Messed Rebirth
by Huntress of Eclipse
Summary: I was an inventor, and I do recall dying. But how in heavens did I get myself reborn into Shingeki no Kyojin world? Most of all, I'm born as THE crazy Titan lover! Problem is, I don't really know the ending... Fine, with the spirit of a researcher, I will find out the truth about the Titans!
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"Congratulations, Franz! I never thought you would succeed in making a fly camera!"

"Thank you," I Formally smiled, "It was really hard, and I myself almost gave up."

I observed the little, seemingly innocent, fly. There was absolutely no sign of it being mechanical in any way as it buzzed on my finger.

"This will be a great boost for the America Military. Great job Ms. Lester."

The rest of the night continued that way, with people congratulating me and pestering me to show how the fly camera works. When the crowds thinned, I started to relax, thinking that finally I could go to my bed. But I was proven wrong when I exited the party venue, when someone lunged at me with a knife in hand. It seems that one of my many rivals have sent assassins to kill me

I expertly dodged the strike, using one of the measly martial arts I learned to side step the attack. Then I hit the back of the neck, sending the man to the land of unconscious.

I thought I was done, but I was mistaken.

From a distance, a loud bang was heard, followed by pain in my chest.

_I should have known there was a sniper._

Then darkness.

But what I did not expect was this other feeling.

_Cool_.

I felt the type of coldness that you can feel by standing on the streets naked in the winter.

"Oh, such a poor baby…"

I felt myself being lifted up by a pair of huge hands. I opened my eyes, but everything was so blurry.

"Ha-Hange Zoe…" she stuttered out then with a soothing voice, she cooed, "So that's your name. Come, let's get you inside, can't have you catch a cold now can we? Welcome to Maria Orphanage, dearie."

* * *

**Uh-oh...**

**Hi there this is L.K. speaking...**

**this is my first ever fanfic so enjoy reading ;)**

**I don't own SnK and the characters**


	2. The New Hange Zoe

Chapter 1

**The New Hange Zoe**

Hange Zoe, the caretakers has no other words to say, is a genius, a crazy genius to be more specific.

Ever since they took her in, she had never cried, not even once. The most she did is shouting when she is feeling hungry. Her eyes were unnerving, ever observing, never missing a single detail.

Then two years passed, she started speaking in complete sentences. She didn't play with the other children, preferring to stay in the library. Nothing seems to interest her. She never asks any question, other than the time she heard the word 'Titan'.

("Miss Rosa?"

"Yes, my dear?"

"What's a 'Titan'?"

"Titan is a monster. They look like humans, but they are huge, and they ate humans!" Rosa answered, "But don't worry, you see that wall? It's called Wall Maria. She will protect us from the bad monsters!"

But Hange didn't seem like she was comforted. Instead, she ran into the library, scourging every single thing there was about Titan, muttering words like "I can't believe it", "in Shingeki no Kyojin", "as a crazy Titan lover" and lastly "oh well, let's just go with the flow." The creepiest part was when she chuckled and said, "I'll find out where Titans come from, kukuku, just you wait."

Then the next morning she started running laps, like she was training herself. But that's impossible, right?)

At the age of 4, she started messing with any complex gadgets she can get her hands into, pulling them apart only to put them together again. The most shocking one was when she was 6; she stole a 3 Dimension Maneuver Gear from an unsuspecting Garrison on guard duty. Saying not to worry, she will return it. Then she proceeded to pull apart every single thing as the caretakers looked on in horror and then put them back on again and left it where she found it.

At the age of 4 too, she started beating any bullies or thugs who dared to mess with the other children of the orphanage. This made the whole children, whether they are younger or older than her, to like her.

And now, this Hange Zoe is having the time of her life beating some stupid guy who dared to attempt a hit on her 'minions'. And said minions were cheering their all on the side lines. And said guy was muttering something.

"What was that? I can't hear you! Speak louder!" Hange commanded the thugs as she cracked her knuckles menacingly. Her 7-year-old figure seems to tower over the taller man.

"I-I-I'm s-sorry!" the man stuttered, squeaking out the last syllable. With that the man ran away, leaving the children to themselves.

The children picked up the groceries, all the while laughing and congratulating Hange for her win. They continued their walk peacefully, until something caught Hange's sight in the alley.

"Hey guys!" Hange chirped happily, pretending nothing was wrong, "You go back first, I think I'm forgetting something."

"Ah, geez, for all your smarts and prowess, you're really forgetful!"

"Just be back to the orphanage before night fall, Hange!"

And the rest of the children walk away, leaving Hange, who entered the alleyway. She saw the figure of 3 men, kicking a small figure - a boy probably - and the small figure kept trying to stand up. Just the sight of them sickened her.

"Stop it." Her voice echoed down the alley.

The three men turned to face her. The blonde one, who seems to be the leader, sneered.

"What do you want, little girl?"

"I said, stop it."

"What will you do if I don't?"

Hange went into her battle position she learned in her previous life, and charged. The closest man was caught unaware and Hange kicked him, right on the crotch, and a sickening crack was heard. The man immediately collapsed, white foam exiting his mouth.

"Oh, my," Hange giggled, "It seems I kicked too hard!"

"You brat!"

The man charged at her, and she took advantage of her smaller stature to slip in between his legs, then she shot up, punching the other man right on the jaw and the other hand hit the back of the neck of the man she passed.

All of them were knocked out in that second.

That day, Hange Zoe dragged the unsuspecting boy to the orphanage, asking the caretaker, "Can we keep him?"

At first, the caretaker seems adamant to not take him in, but after discovering that he was an orphan, they gladly prepare a room.

When asked what his name was, the grey eyed, black haired boy answered them.

"Levi, that's the name the insane bitch gave me."


	3. Levi

Chapter 2

**Levi**

Levi decided that yes, Hange Zoe is the weirdest and craziest bitch he had the unluckiness to encounter.

The day she saved him, she took out a handkerchief, and scrubbed it on his face, real hard, it hurts, not that he would admit it. Not that he was ungrateful, but can't she just give him the handkerchief for him to clean himself? Then she proceeded to drag him to the orphanage she lives in, asking the caretaker if they could keep him like he was a stray kitten.

And took him in they did.

Her weirdness doesn't just end there.

"Levi…"

His eyes twitched.

"Levi…" This time it was accompanied with a poke to the cheek.

"What!" he snapped at the brunette beside him.

"I'm bored…"

"Then go read some books!"

"I've raided the library…"

"Go beat someone up!"

"But there's no bully…"

"Go hit some trees!"

"But the tree is innocent!"

Levi growled. "Then what do you want?"

"Let's talk?"

"We are talking right now."

Then silence enveloped them once again as they lay under the shade of a tree, the tuft of grasses dancing by the wind.

"Say, what do you think of this world?" Hange asked.

"Huh?" Levi glanced to his side. He guessed that this is probably one of Hange's weirdness, for her to ask weird questions out of nowhere.

"What do you think of the Titans, of the Walls?"

"Huh?" Silence once again enveloped them as Levi thought for an answer. "I don't know, and I don't care."

From the corner of his eyes, he could see that Hange's eyes were wide with shock, from what, he doesn't know. Then he heard her chuckle, and then she asked him her next weird question.

"Then what so you think about the Military, about Survey Corps and Garrisons and Military Police?"

He promptly answered, "Garrisons and Military Police are stupid corrupts. The only one who did their jobs is the Survey Corps, but then the whole Survey Corps is suicidal."

His heart almost exploded when he heard her laugh out loud. She held her stomach tight and twisted her body so that she can hit the ground with her other hand. He ignored her, attributing this as one of her weirdness. As the laughter resides, she stood up and prodded him to follow her.

"Now what!" He snapped.

"Come on, we are borrowing some 3DMG from the guards!"

"Will they even lend it to someone?"

"What are you talking about? If we just borrowed it without their permission, of course they are going to lend it to us, want it or not."

"That's stealing!"

"Duh!"

"What do you need 3DMG for, anyways?" He asked after a moment of walking.

She snapped out a brown note book and opened it. Then she shoved it right to Levi's nose. Levi recognized the drawings as the inner workings of the 3DMG.

"That's the blueprint of 3DMG I made the last time I borrowed them. This time, I'm going to try to modify it."

Then she snapped the book close and placed it inside her pocket. Leaving Levi to wonder just where she got all those interests in 3DMGs.


	4. I Won't Stop You

Chapter 3

**I Won't Stop You**

The Cheshire cat smile was etched to my face as I observed the victims in front of me, a plan forming inside my mind. 3 Garrisons was guarding the gate separating Shinganshina district with the rest of Maria. And what's best is that they are on the way to dreamland through alcohols, 2 of the 3DMGs were leaned to a box of crate.

Levi scoffed beside me.

"See, it'll be easy. I'll distract, you sneak in and take the 3DMG."

With that, I took out a black goggle and put it on, smirking all the way. Levi left to hide somewhere around the unprotected 3DMG. I pulled out the match box and a small bag of flour, then lighted the flour using a light match stick and promptly threw it away.

A moment of silence, then…

**BOOM**

Dust and debris were flying everywhere, a few screams were heard, but Hange was sure no one was injured and she was sure that with Levi's lithe body, he already snuck out with the 3DMGs and will be back right about…

"You shitty bitch, you used explosions!"

…now.

"Aww… come on," she turned to face Levi, smiling with open arms, "It was not dangerous, just a bunch of burnt flour."

"Still, can't you warn me?"

"But where's the fun in that?"

"Shitty bitch."

"Short stuff."

One thing I noticed about Levi is that he is more childish, but then, he is a child. And he also seems less…distant. I don't really follow the whole Shingeki no Kyojin episodes so I'm not that sure but wasn't Levi a thug? A criminal of some kind from underground city? Maybe the influence of the underground world made him more distant in the future.

I took off my coat and wrapped it around the 2 3DMGs, and hugged them tightly to my chest, since they are probably one of the only technologies I can find in this world. Then we walked back to the orphanage, with Levi snarling insults and me teasing him.

* * *

"This gear goes here and this additional one goes here…"

Levi was now sitting on a table, a cup of tea in hand as he observed the insane bitch tinkering with the 3DMG. Both he and Hange were in Hange's room for the sake of secrecy. If the orphanage found out than the both of them would be in a deep trouble.

When the door creaks open, he immediately shot up, only to find that it was Lawrence, a fellow orphanage child who looks up to Hange like a hero despite him being older. Lawrence closed the door and approached the table Levi was sitting at, and then he watched as Hange modified the 3DMG.

"After two days of hanging around with her," Lawrence started, "we can both agree that she is crazy."

Levi nodded as he stirred his cup of steaming tea, remembering the event earlier where she used explosions as mere distraction.

"But she is a genius nonetheless," Lawrence continued with a dry chuckle. "It's just a shame her cleverness will be wasted."

Levi glanced to the side with a raised eyebrow, prodding him to continue.

"She wants to join the Survey Corps," said Lawrence, "She'll die there."

Ah, now Levi knew where the interest in 3DMGs came from, together with some of the weird questions.

"And you want me to convince her not to join?"

"Yes."

"No."

"Huh?"

"I won't convince her. It's her decision to choose."

"But-"

"No buts," Levi interrupted, "she wants to join, and she will join. Like how she got the 3DMGs, she wants it, she gets it. And she will use any means to get what she wants."

At this point, Hange was pressing the button to turn the gas and ends up in a plume of smoke. She coughed as she waved in the attempt of dispersing the smoke.

"Aren't you worried of her?"

Levi glanced at Hange, who was now taking off the parts to restart from the beginning. He recalled every fight the girl gets them to in the span of 3 days of his stay in the orphanage.

"Not really, I'm sure she can take care of herself."

With that, Lawrence growled and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

"You really won't stop me?"

Levi stared into the brown eyes of Hange. Her eyes, which were ever seeing, ever knowing, seem to pierce the air with the seriousness that was rarely present.

"You're listening." Levi accused.

"Yeah," Hange chuckled as she tighten one of the screw, "It's hard not to in a room as small as this."

Levi nodded in agreement.

"So?"

"Hmm?"

"You won't stop me?"

"You know the answer."

"You're dodging the question!" Hange accused.

"Hard not to," Levi smirked, "when the person asking is thicker than Wall Maria."

"Hey! You're using my line!"

Then peaceful silence as the only thing heard was the clanking of metals.

"I want to join the Survey Corps, not for something as mundane as glory or wealth. I want to satisfy my curiosity."

"Even in the cost of your life?"

"Not really, I don't want to die, but if dying is the only answer, then yes, even with my life. Aren't you curious of where Titans came from? I'm sure over 150 years ago there was no such thing as Titans, but suddenly a little over 100 years ago they appeared and ate humans."

"No, I'm not curious."

"Geez, Levi, you're really no fun!"

"Shut up and get down, it's probably dinner time."

"Really?" She asked in disbelieve as she looked at the window. True to what he said, the sun is already setting, so she followed him down the stairs.

Unexpectedly, the Mess Hall seems noisier than usual. Laughter and shouts could be heard down the hall way.

"Are they doing what I'm thinking they are doing?" Hange asked. Levi just growled in annoyance.

Both of them opened the door to the mess hall. As if on cue, a bowl of porridge was sent shooting to Hange's way, covering her with white goo.

"You little tweak!"

And Hange joined the fray, leaving Levi, who became a time bomb.

**CRACK**

Everyone froze in their place, eyeing the short fuse in front of the door.

"You guys better clean the mess up," threatens Levi, "before I choose to use soap to scrub your tongue! NOW!"


	5. Separation

Chapter 4

**Separation**

Five years passed, both Levi and I grew, though I swear Levi's height doesn't change much. I've taken into myself to drag Levi wherever I go (except the toilet of course) since Levi is one hell of an introverted child, though Levi seems less resistant over the years. I've also started using goggles, not because I am following the real Hange Zoe, but because I need to stop getting smoke of my inventions from contacting my eyes. Levi had started calling me Shitty Four-Eyes ever since.

The both of us started sparring with each other under my insistence. At first, I held a consecutive wins, then all of a sudden Levi changed his fighting style, using his flexibility and speed, and won. Ever since then, Levi had been wiping the ground with me.

Like now, for example.

"I give! I give!" I shouted as I smacked my hands to the ground. Only then did Levi release his Boston Crab hold on me. I sigh as I rubbed the painful spots, remembering the time I was the one who was actually standing on the top. I could feel Levi smirking even without seeing him.

"Damn it, Levi…" I whined, "Do you really like to torture your pitiful best buddy?"

Over the years, I also started declaring Levi as my buddy, best buddy, to be exact. At first Levi denied it greatly, but now, he seems resigned to whatever declarations I made.

"It's payback."

"Aren't you over paying?"

"That's the interest."

"That's one huge interest!"

Then I turned, so that I can face the sky. Levi gently lay down on the grass beside me. Both of us watched as the sky turns reddish gold.

"Tomorrow is the time." I said.

"Hn."

"I'll be going very early in the morning to go to the military base. This is probably the last time we meet." I glanced to the side. Levi was still staring at the clouds.

"Hn."

"Will you give this best bud of yours a heartfelt hug?" I grinned cheekily.

His head snapped to the side and he scowled, "No."

I should've known. This is _Levi_ we are speaking about after all.

"What are you going to do when I leave?"

"Huh?"

"Don't play innocent with me, Levi. I know you're not going to stay in the orphanage when I leave."

"Nothing much, just finding some work. I'm sick of the stupid orphanage."

"So working in the underground city is 'some work'?"

Levi shot up, "How did you-"

"I'm your friend, Levi, of course I know."

"But how?"

"These past few weeks your spars had been improving quicker than before, and then if I consider your personality, that's the only conclusion I can come up with." That, and add in the fact that I know it from the series.

Then silence, as Levi processed my words. He sighed, and plopped back down.

"Should've known," he muttered, "You are crazy perceptive after all."

"Then are you going to stop me?" he asked.

"No. Your life is your decision. And also, you didn't stop me that day 5 years ago when you found out I want to join Survey Corps. You kept your words."

"Hn."

"Come on, let's go, its turning dark."

And both of us walked back to the orphanage, ate dinner, and went to our own room. Just as I held the door knob, I called out to him.

"Oi!"

"Hey!"

We stared each other wide eyed, never expecting the other to actually call out at the same time.

I chuckled as I took out a neatly folded cravat and handed it over to him. Levi raised an inquiring eyebrow.

"It's a cravat, I embroidered it myself, Mr. Clean Freak."

Levi growled in annoyance as he entered to his own room, then I followed suit to my own room. I was getting ready to bed, already comfortable under the blankets, when the door to my room creaked open and clicked close. I turned my head and was met by the sight of Levi, who was dangling something in his hand.

"Why brown goggles?" I inquired.

Levi scoffed, "Aren't yours getting a little too tight, Shitty Four-Eyes?"

"Gee, thanks," I weakly chuckled, feeling way too drowsy.

Levi placed the pair of goggles on the table, next to my old black ones.

"Now scoot over."

"Huh?"

"Just scoot over."

I did what he asked me, and then he pulled the blanket up, lay on the bed, and then warped the blanket around himself. The bed was small, but somehow, both of us fitted inside. Despite my drowsiness, I stared at him, wide eyed.

Now this is not a 'Levi' thing to do.

"Sleep," he ordered.

"Hey hey, I _am_ trying to sleep right here."

"Don't expect me to hug you later on."

_"Will you give this best bud of yours a heartfelt hug?"_

I chuckled, remembering the request I asked of him earlier today. "Yeah, I know."

I should have known, that Levi is a complex character, not someone out of a book.


	6. The Military

Chapter 5

**The Military**

Ah, damn. It was so hot, extremely hot, like being baked inside an oven.

No, no, no… that's a bad topic to think about right now…

"You! Your name and where you come from!"

Think about the ice cream in your previous life. Ah yes, the cool feeling in your mouth, remember it. I just hope I can eat it right now…

No, ice creams are also a bad topic right now.

"O-Oluo Bozado from Utopia District, sir!"

"What are you here for?"

"F-for glory and honor, sir!"

"Glory and honor? Can someone feeble as you get that?"

"You! State your name and where you come from!"

'Rite of Passage' this, 'Rite of Passage' that, I don't care! All I care is that I'm dying in this heat.

The Instructor earlier introduced himself as Thomas Johnson, and if my memory serves me right, then this instructor is not the one who trained Eren and co. This Instructor walks around with head held high, looking down on the trainees. Unlike the future Instructor (his name is something Sadist?) who shouts and curse to intimidate, Sir Johnson belittles the trainees, decreasing their self confidence.

Ah, Sir Johnson has reached my place…

"State your name and where you come from, Goggles!"

"Hange Zoe from Wall Maria, sir!" I answered him, loud and clear. My eyes kept looking forward, even with the Instructor breathing down my neck.

"Are you here for fame or glory, insect? Are you here so that you can live in the Inner District?"

"No, sir!"

"Then state your reasons!"

"I want to learn the truth about Titans, sir!"

"Oh? Truth about Titans?" Sir Johnson seems interested, "Hmph! You would probably need to die before then, isn't that right, Goggles? Then what will you do?"

"Sir, if I need to die, as long as humans managed to know more about the Titans, then let it be so!"

Then silence, as the Instructor saw the determination in my eyes, and then I could feel the weight of hand on my shoulder. Faintly, I could hear him mumbling something under his breath.

"A soldier who enrolls because of curiosity, curious indeed…"

I took that as a compliment.

Then he moves on to belittle his next victim. Then I was back to finding a topic to think of in this heat that does not make me suffer.

* * *

Dinner later on, the trainees who survived the Rite of Passage was talking to each other merrily. The sounds of utensils clanking with one another could be heard, and each student took turns in telling about themselves.

Me? I tried to huddle in one of the corner to eat my meal peacefully, but somehow, some of them pulled me and forced me into the circle.

All of them shared their own stories as I ate my meal, until this certain dirty blond idiot dared to disrupt it.

"And you! You're here because you are curious about the Titans? Aren't you a bit too young to even be in the Military?"

I froze and stared him with narrowed eyes. On cue, the whole dining hall quieted down, sensing hostile vibes from me.

"State your name."

"The name's Oluo Bozado," he sneered, "Keep that in mind, girlie."

Right now, I want nothing more than to stab him repeatedly with my fork and make him do embarrassing things, but alas, I need to keep up appearances. It won't be good for a cute 12-year-old like me to start threatening teenage boys to the point of pissing the pants now, isn't it?

"Well, Oluo, I'm curious, didn't I hear you stuttering earlier in the Rite of Passage?" I baited him as I played around with my fork.

"Why you-"

"And for your information," I interrupted him,"by knowing more about Titans we can find more ways to defeat them, or are you too stupid to know that?"

"You brat, Titans are monsters! That's all we need to know to kill them!"

_That's it!_

I placed a foot on the table and reached across the table to grab on this Oluo bastard's collar. Then I pulled him up, making his legs dangle in the air. I held the fork menacingly to his face.

"Oluo, I'm curious about the inner workings of a human body," I drawled, "Would you like to volunteer as an experiment and let me dissect you?"

He shrieked, "No, no, I don't want to!"

I let go of his collar. "Good," I smiled, "it'll be a waste to lose one soldier so early in the training."

Silence, then the door banged open, revealing Instructor Johnson who seems pissed.

"What's this noise?"

Another creaking silence, then…

"Oluo Bozado and I were just having a heated discussion about Titans, sir. He has interesting theories regarding how the Titans reproduce despite the lack of reproductive system that I forgot to tune down my voice, sir!"

The whole Mess Hall was held in awkward silence as some was threatening to laugh, and some others were looking at Oluo weirdly. While the Instructor just pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed wearily.

"Oluo Bozado, please refrain from talking about sex, especially to someone as young as Personnel Hange Zoe, even if you are just sharing your thoughts about Titans."

By the time the door was creaked close, and the Instructor was sure to not listen, the whole Mess Hall fell into an all out laughter. Some of the more 'straight' ones sent accusing glares on Oluo's way, and Oluo was vehemently denying my claims.


	7. The Instructor

Chapter 6

**The Instructor**

Thomas Johnson is an old, strict and pompous man. He has always been a good judge of character and skills, so not much of the Trainees can interest him. So he did not expect it when he saw a walking contradiction on the 90th Trainees Squad by the name of Hange Zoe.

There weren't many people who would claim to enter military because they are just curious about the Titans. And Sir Johnson could clearly see the determination burning in the eyes, that's why he upgraded the nick name for Hange Zoe from 'insect' and 'goggles' to 'soldier'. He has taken upon himself to observe the growth of this particular Trainee. And after half year, he was clearly not disappointed.

Hange Zoe is a rare jewel when it comes to strategy and knowledge. Her mind is sharper than whip, and her eyes never miss anything. She calculates everything down to the bone, like where to shoot the next grappler, where to land, and how much gas is needed, where to hit, how many second and how much power. Coupled with the above average knowledge of offensive and defensive moves that were not thought in the Military, Hange Zoe is not someone to be pissed.

But, even scarier than her quick wit and vast knowledge, was her knowledge and control of her 3DMG. Sir Johnson notices that, even when her 3DMG doesn't look any different than the other 3DMG, it was actually quicker and stronger. Her grapplers also shoot faster than the other grapplers.

What's disappointing about Hange Zoe is that…

"Hi-yah!"

Yes, this.

The old Instructor was observing the trainees in action. They were told to 'kill' 3 of the fake Titans dispersed in the forest by using their 3DMGs for this time's training.

"You fake Titans! I won't forgive you!"

And then the sounds of slashing could be heard far out in the distant, followed by multiple dull thumps.

"Come out here, you fakers!"

He sighed, the long, heavy sigh, the sigh that was given out when he found out that such jewel was unsalvageable.

Hange Zoe has legendary skills, vast knowledge, and quick wits, but what was very disappointing of her is that no one seems to be able to control her every time she went on a rampage. Like now…

Her curiosity about the truth of Titans, made her… feral against fake Titans and Titan wannabe, which triggered her rampage button, which, in turn, made her uncontrollable.

Sir Johnson was sure Hange had at least 'killed' half of the Titan in this forest and butchered some of Titan-shaped wood board. Now he needs to put away some of the training fees to create new fake Titans.

"Hiyaaaa!"

Hange's war cry could be heard nearing the fake Titan in front of him. Then, quick as snake, a grappler shot to the tree opposite from where Hange is supposed to be, and out comes Hange from a tree. She shot up, to the sky and pulled back the first grappler, sending the second grappler to the ground not far from the Titan. As the grappler pulled her to the ground, she used her swords to cut a huge chunk diagonally from 'the back of Titan's neck'. Then the first grappler was shot to the trees as she was done with the 'kill'.

Sir Johnson nodded in approval, marking a perfect on Hange's name. Hange is probably the only one in the whole Military to be able to make a deep diagonal cut on a Titan's weak spot. This also shows that Hange is adaptable at killing Titans from many angles depending on situations.

But, as if she was not satisfied, as the grappler pulled her back to the trees, she cut another part from the wooden plank, and then another, and another…

The Instructor sighed. Really, he should've known that such rare jewel comes with great cost. (In this situation, the cost is her sanity.)

"Trainee Hange Zoe!"

Hange kept on hacking the fake Titan.

"Trainee Hange Zoe, stop this instant!"

Sir Johnson was promptly ignored.

"Trainee Hange Zoe! You are banned from the consumption of any sugar, caffeine, chocolate and dairy products for one week! Starting today!"

Hange froze in mid air and stumbled to the ground. "What? But-"

"And you're given kitchen duty for the whole week for trying to talk back, starting tomorrow!"

Hange sulkily accepted her fate, but he could still see the determination burning through her eyes.

"I will inform of the rest of 90th Trainee Squad to snatch away anything containing sugar, coffee, milk or chocolate from you."

Hange's shoulder slumped in defeat and Sir Johnson chuckled in victory.


	8. Erwin Smith

Chapter 7

**Erwin Smith**

Ares McClain was scared shitless.

He was in the training ground. The instructor paired them and ordered one of the pair to be the bad guy and attack with a wooden knife while the other try to make the 'bad guy' let go of the knife. It was his turn to hold the wooden knife and attack his partner, or at least, he was supposed to.

When he looked at the supposed 'victim', all he saw was a she-demon with eyes so focused and narrowed beneath a pair of brown goggles, ready to kill him at moments of notice. Somehow, he can see the silhouette of a winged black Titan behind her. And she doesn't seem like she will just kill him. She will skin him, butcher him, hang him…

Did he just hear a growl coming from her way?

Ares refused to think of it.

It has only been one day since the Instructor's orders to not let Hange consume any sugar, caffeine, chocolate and milk, and yet, she seems like she had not eaten for a whole month!

Most of all, Sir Johnson and some of the 2nd Commander of the Scouting Legion is watching them!

Ares steeled himself and darted to her, his hand holding the knife extended to have a quick one hit win. But Hange parried his hand away and jabbed her fingers to his stomach. As Ares tried to get rid of the pain, Hange twisted the arm she parried to his back. He had no choice but to give up in her painful hold.

* * *

2nd Commander Erwin Smith decided to pay the current trainees a visit during the restocking of the Scouting Legion. He would like to know about the current trainees and know just how much of them would join the Scouting Legion. So here he was, in the training ground, filled with Trainees practicing their hand to hand combat.

In the midst of Trainees, he saw his old instructor prowling around, pairing the poor students. He approached the old man as the instructor faced him, and he saluted. The Instructor seems a little shocked, before he collected himself and saluted back.

"So what are you doing here, Erwin? I thought you became the 2nd Commander of the Scouting Legion."

"I do," answered him, "I just want to know about the next generation of soldiers."

"Oh? Is that so?" Then the Instructor shouted, "Attention! I'll introduce you to the 2nd Commander of the Scouting Legion, Erwin Smith! Salute!"

All the soldiers placed their hands on their heart, and Erwin saluted back.

"Good! Now back to practice!"

And the trainees continued where they left off, but Sir Johnson was still looking around.

"Who are you searching for, sir?"

"I'm searching for a brown haired, goggle wearing kid. Now where is she…" he wondered, "Hange Zoe! Are you present?"

"I'm here! I'm here!" the feminine voice shouted from the entrance of the training ground.

Erwin could see a brunette running inside from the entrance. Then, as their eyes made contact with each other, the pair of orbs beneath the goggles widened in recognition. Then she did something unexpected, she tripped.

But she did not fall flat-face to the ground, instead, she used the momentum to roll forward and continue running when she stood back up. When he saw her eyes again, there was no sign of recognition.

If Erwin was any other man, he would have waved it off as his imagination, but he was so sure that he saw that small hint of recognition. Did he met her somewhere before?

"Why are you late, insect?"

"Kitchen duty, sir!"

"I take it that you don't consume any of the banned foods?"

Somehow, Erwin could feel the clouds of doom and gloom hovering over her as she answered, "Sir, yes, sir! I haven't eaten any of them since you gave out the punishment."

"I'll let you off today. Find someone without partner and spar, the usual."

Then she went off to the midst of trainee to find someone to spar with.

"She has good reflexes." Erwin lightly comments.

"I know, she is the best one in the 90th badge despite being only 13 years old," Johnson sighed, "She just has a few… quirks."

"Like eating too much?"

"No, she ate the normal portion. She has a few more favorable foods, and I'm banning her from eating them for the whole week as a punishment."

"Punishment? Why?" he inquired as he watched the girl asks for a sandy haired boy to spar with her.

"Yesterday was the day they trained in the Titan killing stimulation in the forest. Her cuts were perfect, but because of her… quirks, she ends up destroying the whole wood."

"You haven't told me her quirks."

"You don't need to know. She is, after all, interested in joining the Scouting Legion. You will find out soon enough."

"Is that so?"

"You're in luck. She is a fighter, a mechanic, and a strategist all compiled in one. Not to mention she knew a bit of medicine."

Erwin nodded as he watched this 'Hange Zoe' put the boy in a hold and release him.

"Hange Zoe!" Erwin called, "Come here."

She obeyed him and approached him. The rest of the trainee quieted down, wondering what does the 2nd Commander of the Scouting Legion wants to do with her.

"Spar with me," he ordered as he went into the standard military stance.

Hange went into an odd stance that Erwin can't help but raised an inquiring eyebrow. Her knees are bent, one foot placed a little bit in front of the other. Her palms were open and straight along her arms. One arm was in front of her body and the other on the side, ready for an attack.

"That's not a stance the military taught, isn't it?"

Hange grunted and answered, "I made it when I was younger, and there was this someone who always wins against me. I made it in hopes to defeat him." Through the goggle lenses, Erwin could see a look that he knew all too well. Her eyes were remembering someone of the past.

Then everything blurred as both of them sends a flurry of punches and jabs. Hange used her speed to parry off incoming punches as she tried to jab a weak point while Erwin blocked her attacks as he sent her heavy punches. When Erwin managed to grab a hold on her arm, he twisted her, intending to put her in a choke hold. But Hange realized what he was trying to do, so she pushed her legs and head butted Erwin's chest. Erwin did not expect this and lost his balance, leaving Hange to stand still.

"I give," Hange panted out, "I give. There's no way I can win this spar."

"Oh?" Erwin asked, "Why so? I'm on the ground, you're still standing."

"I have speed, but I have no power, so I rely on momentum. Every attack I sent was sent to weak points of the human body, and you clearly knew where those points are, seeing that you focus on blocking the more dangerous ones. And you have more power and experience. Any attempt on putting you on any type of hold would be useless, and knocking you out requires a lot of power. All I can do is delaying my lost unless something unexpected happens."

After listening to her analysis, Erwin stood and dusted himself. "Your aim is accurate, and you are good at predicting my next movements. Earlier, when I tried to put you in a choke hold, you pushed me down before I even twisted you. You are good at thinking on your feet," he complimented, "Scouting Legion would be glad to accept someone like you."

"Thank you, sir. I have been thinking about joining the Scouting Legion."

"Good."

And with that, he exited the training ground, satisfied that he found such a talented soldier.


	9. Suspicion

Chapter 8

**Suspicion **

Dinner, on my part, was unbearably noisy, as every single person tried to congratulate me for holding myself against the Second Commander.

"You brat! Don't get cocky just because you were praised!"

And I had been itching to hit a certain 'fly' that had not stopped buzzing around. And my fingers had been twitching because of it.

"Shut it, Oluo!" Jeena Brown growled at the 'fly', and then she faced me and soothed, "That's right, Hange, keep on ignoring him. He is just a bug, an insect!"

"Yeah, true, he is a mere fly," I agreed as I ignored an indignant "hey!" coming from said 'fly', followed by a string of unending curse.

"You know, I really did not expect the Second Commander to actually come and observe us," said Jeena, trying to divert my attention from the foul mouth.

"Yeah," I agreed, remembering how I tripped myself because of the shock of meeting Erwin Smith. Isn't he the future Commander of the Scouting Legion?

"You even tripped!" she teased.

"Oh, shut it," I growled, "good thing I managed to roll and made it cool, or else I'd be embarrassed half to death."

"Too true," Jeena agreed, "so who is this person you want to beat so much?"

"Huh?"

"Is it a boy? Is he hot? Does he have muscular six pack and strong arms?" she prodded.

I imagined my dear Levi, short as he is, having huge bulging six packs and strong arm, very much like Superman's body. Just the thought of a 'Muscular Levi' sent me laughing out loud as I banged the table.

"Have you snapped?" Jeena asked wearily as I stopped my laughing tirade.

"No duh! I would never snap!"

"So?"

"So what?"

"What does he look like?"

I contemplated on telling her, but then chose to just smile mysteriously with fingers on my lips.

Oh how I took joy in playing with people's mind.

"Oh? That's how you want to play?" then Jeena raised her voice to get everyone's attention, "Does anyone here wants to know what Hange's boyfriend looks like?"

"Hey!" I shouted indignantly. But it's too late, swarms of people started crowding my table.

"What! Hange Zoe had a boyfriend?"

"How does he look like?"

"Is he the one you want to win against?"

"Huh! A boyfriend of a brat would always be another brat!"

"Shut it, fly!" Jeena snapped at Oluo, "You're just jealous because she has a boyfriend!"

And the 'fly' went back to his own corner to curse.

"Really, Hange! What does he look like?"

And more and more questions were bombarded on me.

"Fine!" the whole Mess Hall became silent as I shout, "I'll tell you how my rival looks like, but he is not my boyfriend!"

"So?"

"He is probably the smallest human man on this world alive his age!"

"Huh?" the crowds were confused. I took this chance to sneak out the Mess Hall into my room.

* * *

The next morning, when it was still dark, I woke up earlier than the others and sneaked out, bringing together my sketch book and pencil. I stretched out my body and then broke out into a small jog. It has become a habit for me to have a light jog in the morning and then rest under a tree while drawing possible blueprints.

After the jog, I rested in my favorite tree as I sketched out the blueprint to make another weapon. What I had in mind was a buzz-saw like sword with a button, and when the button was pressed, the blades will run the way a buzz-saw would. It needs to be the size of the standard sword we use to kill the Titans, yet stronger, as they are not disposable like the blades we normally use. But every sketch I made was either too big or too heavy, so the pages of the failed sketches were spread around me.

I was so focused on my work and ideas as I draw that…

"These can actually be useful against Titans."

…that I did not notice anyone sneaking up on me.

"Eeeep!" I screamed, shocked out of heart beat as I turned to face the one who sneaked up on me. "Second Commander Erwin!"

Erwin Smith was crouched down in front of me as he analyses the drawings scattered around me while I took my time in calming down my racing heartbeat.

"What comes to your mind when you made this… weapon?"

"It was –uh- I…" I trailed off, organizing my thoughts and wordings, "Titans ate humans, but I heard not all of them chewed, is that right?"

Erwin just nodded.

"So some of the humans entered the Titan's stomach in complete and living condition, but then, how come no human managed to cut off the Titan's stomach from the inside? Titans have no digestive system, so the likelihood that inside the Titan's stomach is an acid is small. Most probably, the only difficulties we have inside the Titans are the constant movement, extreme heat, and the lack of air."

I paused as I organized my wordings for the conclusion. "This means that those eaten by Titans have tried to cut the stomach from the inside, but with the Titan's regenerative abilities, they took much longer time, so they died of the lack of oxygen. So I figured if we can quicken the cutting process, then the human inside can come out."

Erwin nodded in understanding. "You have an interesting way of thinking. Everything was drawn out from what you heard, and you created the weapon to counter it. It was like you have seen the Titans directly."

"Ahaha…" I laughed nervously. I have seen Titans, but not face to face. Can't let Erwin know about this, can I? "But all the drawings there are failures. It was either too big or too heavy or too slow."

"That 3DMG you have, did you modify it yourself? I recon it was faster and more gas preserving than the others."

_Why was he asking me so many questions? _

"Yes, sir." I puffed my chest, proud that my modifications were recognized by someone, "I would like to make it faster, but I can't handle the speed… yet."

"With your skills, you would be successful as a technician, so why choose a life of danger?" He asked as he collected the scattered paper.

_Could he be suspecting something of me? Damn…_

"I am… selfish. I would have been living as a technician now, if I had not known of Titans and the mysteries they bring. But I'm curious about the truth of Titans, so here am I, training as a soldier, not to protect the people, but just to satisfy my curiosity." I said, lying here and there, but mostly telling the truth.

"Have we met before?" Erwin asked as he handed the papers to me.

My heart was pounding loudly, and inside I was screaming "_Damn! Damn! Damn!_" repeatedly, but on the outside, I made a face of confusion as I answered.

"Uh… Yesterday was the first time we met sir."

"Is that so? Then run along, I'm sure it's time for breakfast."

"Eh?" Sure enough, the sun has started shining down on the world, so I sprinted back to the Mess Hall as I inwardly sighed in relieve.


	10. Early Graduation

Chapter 9

**Early Graduation**

Oluo Bozado, there was no better word to describe, was pissed. He was extremely, utterly, humanely impossibly, pissed. Even that was an understatement.

Why?

It was because of the package of bitchiness that was called as 'Hange Zoe'.

The first day in the military, she had threatened to dissect him and he refuse to admit that he was scared beyond measure. Then because of some… things Oluo refuse to remember, most of the 90th Trainee Squad members had started calling him 'Pervert Oluo' or just 'Pervert'.

And since then he had decided that Hange Zoe is the most detestable person in the world.

Despite him being older and larger, Hange Zoe had always find a way to ridicule him verbally clever that he didn't know how to retort back without the use of violence.

Then there are also her tendencies to talk cryptically that he didn't understand a word she said. Like that time…

_"Your eye brows looked a lot like Levi's."_

_"Huh?" he dumbly asked as he looked at Hange. Where does this topic come from?_

_"And if your skin is smoother and if you look more handsome, I would've dragged you around the way I did to Levi…" Hange trailed off._

_"Huh!"_

_"But Levi is Levi," Hange stated, "It won't be the same."_

_Despite not understanding what she was rambling about, Oluo tried to retort back, but right before he opened his mouth, Hange continued again._

_"But then, you are faithful to Levi, and I always have Levi with me," then she smirked, "Good then, I can use him against you."_

_Then as Oluo process her statement, Hange walks away._

_"Hey! What the hell do you mean by that?"_

Then another thing that irked him the most is that she seems to beat him in every subject and trainings effortlessly. She even managed to gain the interest of the Second Commander of the Scouting Legion!

Now that the Second Commander was watching them spar, he was going to show him that this little brat is nothing against him!

\(w)/

"I'd like Hange Zoe to graduate early and be a member of the Scouting Legion."

Erwin know that the seemingly normal, innocent, and young looking Hange Zoe is very, very special. It was not because of her knowledge or her skills. Not because she was a talented young soldier, but because of the hint of… oldness in her eyes.

When he talked to her under that tree, he knew she was telling the truth, but she was still hiding something. But he was sure that whatever she was hiding, she is loyal to her own cause, and therefore, in extent, the human race.

Erwin also notices that she always rubs her chest. Not the _oh-my-I'm-sorry-I didn't-mean-it_ shy type of rub, but the rub that war veterans usually do to ease the itch of a scar. It was the _I-can't-believe-I-actually-live _type of rub.

So he would like her to graduate faster, so that he could keep watch on her as she serves under the Scouting Legion.

"Oh?" Sir Johnson asked, "She hasn't even finished her first year here."

"There's no need. She is skilled and knowledgeable enough."

Lastly, she have knowledge of things people of this world does not know of. When he read through her notes, he notices one odd sentence.

_'A sword that has the properties of a buzz-saw.'_

He was sure he never heard of any tool called 'buzz-saw', and yet she used it casually in her sketches, like it was a common tool.

"Fine, when do you want her to graduate?"

"Today."

(w)

The light spar between us has turned into an all out fight, with me dodging and my opponent sending hits. Oluo Bozado blindly sends punches and kicks to my direction, his anger apparent in his face.

I grabbed his hand and send an uppercut to his jaw.

"Hange Zoe! Come here!" Sir Johnson called.

So I left Oluo on the ground and approached both Instructor and Second Commander.

"Trainee Hange Zoe, from now on you are a soldier serving under the Scouting Legion!"

"Ah?" Silence, as I process what Sir Johnson just said, then…

"Yahooo! I can finally see Titans face to face!" I shouted in excitement as I danced the victory dance. But the 'dance' was disturbed when someone cleared his throat and I was back to attention.

I saluted to the two superiors in front of me and shouted clearly, "Sir, yes, sir! It is an honor!"

"You're dismissed. Immediately pack your things and meet me back here before the sun sets!"

"Yes, sir!"

And I skipped back to the dorms happily.


	11. Just One Year

Chapter 10

**Just One Year**

I was having dinner in the Scouting Legion's HQ together with Second Commander Erwin.

"Your first mission as a member of Scouting Legion is tomorrow."

"Bu- What! That's quick! I just entered the Scouting Legion today!"

"Aren't you supposed to be excited?"

"I am! Just that, it's hard to believe! And I just calmed down from the earlier excitement!"

"Then calm yourself down again."

I growled as I poured more milk into the tea, and then add a few more spoons of sugar into it. Erwin was looking at me in amusement as I sipped the tea and made a disgusted sound. I added more milk.

"You are not fond of tea, are you?" he asked.

"Yes, back when I was younger a friend of mine love to drink tea so much that I quickly grew sick of tea."

True, Levi loved drinking tea even thought he acted indifferent about it. At first, when Levi started drinking tea, I used to tag along and drink with him, but after constantly drinking tea, I finally can't stomach drinking another cup of tea that I had never touched a cup of tea. Even today, I did my very best to make the taste of tea disappear.

"Your Instructor mentioned that you are not allowed to eat some food as punishment for one week. Was milk and sugar one of them?"

I froze. "You're not going to continue Sir Johnson's punishment are you? I'm no longer a trainee!"

The blond man took that as a yes, "So what are the other foods?"

A moment of silence as I sipped the milk filled tea, then I reluctantly answered him, "Milk, sugar, coffee and chocolate."

"Then I'll be banning them from you if you are disobedient."

"Hey! I thought you're not using them as a punishment!"

"I'm not continuing your punishment. Besides, I didn't mention anything about not using them against you," he said as he stood up, motioning me to follow him.

I stood up and followed him as I mumbled, sure that he won't be listening me, "You slippery man, just you wait, I will pay you back, with a huge interest."

Erwin raised an eyebrow at me and asked, "What was that?"

A quick "nothing" and an innocent smile was all I need for him to divert back to the road.

"Good. I'm introducing you to the Commander. Most probably he will put you to my squad."

"Huh."

Then Erwin opened the door and motioned me to enter first, and then he followed suit, closing the door behind him. A man was sitting behind the desk. His face was filled with wrinkles.

"So this is the Trainee that interests you?"

"Yes sir. This is Hange Zoe from the 90th Trainee Squad," Erwin answers. "Hange, this is the Commander of the Scouting Legion, Keith Shadis."

"Keith…" I tried to pronounce his name, "…Sadist?"

Isn't the name of 104th Trainee Squad's Instructor is something Sadist? Could this be the person?

Then a moment of silence as I realized what I just said and I slapped my mouth, squeaking out, "I didn't say anything!"

The next silence was the most palpable with me most likely waiting for my punishment. But my heart skipped a beat as instead, Keith laughed loudly.

"She is one interesting shitty brat! Erwin! Take good care of her!"

"Of course."

And with that, both Erwin and I went out of the room. When the door clicked close, Erwin said, "Your mouth is like a broken dam of your thoughts."

I grumbled under my breath before going back to the room provided for me.

**(ow)**

"Wow! Armin! Look, the Scouting Legion is setting out!"

Armin just stood star struck by the sight of the Scouting Legion, but he was suddenly jerked back to reality when Eren pulled him and stand on a crate box.

"So cool…"

Both Eren and Armin watched as the long rows horses and carriages pass by them in awe, that is, until Eren spotted something weird. It was a member of the Scouting Legion with brown hair in a ponytail and brown goggles covering the eyes.

"Oi, Armin."

"Yes?"

"Can you see the brown haired goggle wearing one?" he pointed out, "The one walking close to a tall blonde haired man?"

"Eh?" Armin narrowed his eyes in search until he finally found who Eren was pointing at; it was then that he realizes what Eren is talking about, "He's so small!"

The brunette was looking around the crowds. His eyes rested on Eren and Armin longer than necessary before he was back to talking with the blonde man again.

"Armin," Eren called, "How old do you think he is?" he asked.

"I don't know," Armin answered truthfully, "but I'd say he is not that much older than us."

"I'd say he's 12!"

"The minimal age of entering the military training is 13!" Armin stated, "And then another 2 years to finish the training."

"Then he is… 15?" Eren calculated, "But that means he is a shortie!"

As Eren and Armin debates on how old the goggle wearing kid was, they accidentally overheard the group nearby.

"Tch, the Survey Corps had gotten desperate to the point of entering a kid!"

"Yeah," one of them sneered, "it is the Survey Corps after all; all their members will surely die."

Hearing their comments about his heroes, he trudged towards them and kicked one of them in the shin, and then promptly ran away.

**~(o_o)~**

From the looks of it, Eren and Armin looks about 7 to 9 years old. But isn't there supposed to be a girl? Makisa? Or was it Mikasa? She has those over protective tendencies towards Eren and would be anywhere Eren is. She would not willingly leave Eren, so that means they haven't met yet.

"The 208th Expedition to beyond the Walls! Begins now!"

So, I only have at most 3 years left before the fall of Wall Maria or, at the quickest, 1 year left...

Just one year...

"Come on, Hange." Erwin ordered, breaking me from thoughts.

"Yeah, yeah..." I lazily answered back as I nudge my horse to move forward.

**(*3*)**

**Sorry, I made a wrong calculation...**

**I'm sure you realized that I changed Hange from being in the 97th Trainee Squad to the 90th Trainee Squad. Eren is in the 104th Trainee Squad, so if the Military took only 1 batch of trainees each year, it will be impossible since the Wall is only 100 years old. So in this story, the military took in trainees twice a year.**


	12. Her Quirks

Chapter 11

**Her Quirks**

Erwin growled in annoyance.

They have only been moving forward for a few minutes, and yet, they had come across two Titans! What's worse is that they are moving on flat land! And 7 of their men were already gone!

In this expedition, they have two objectives. One of which is to learn more about the Titans, the other is to create a checkpoint of some sort so they can restock there on the next mission.

So the formation used was the normal. The cart of supplies in the centre, with them surrounding it and protecting it against any Titans from attacking the cart.

The two Titans were hot on their heels. One is a 4 meter class, while the other is a 7 meter class.

Erwin thought things could not go even worse than this, but turns out, it could. And the cause was because of a certain young, newly appointed member.

In the middle of the run, she suddenly shouted, "That's it!" and turned the reigns of the horse, running straight towards the Titan whilst shouting in a clear sing song voice, "Come to mama, my darling~! Come and hug me, my first two real Titan~!"

"Hange! Damn!" Erwin curses her stupidity. He pulled his horse back, towards the two Titans, when he saw Hange move to action.

Hange shot a grappler to the chest of the taller Titan and pulled herself up. Then she uses the gas to swing around the 7m class to the back of the shorter Titan, swiftly cutting the back of its neck. Before her land, she shot another grappler to the neck of the taller Titan, swiftly avoiding its swinging hands, and kill the Titan. The Titan swayed, before falling flat-faced, sending dust and debris flying about.

"Hange!"

When the dust dispersed, Hange could be seen tightly holding the Titan's neck.

"Quick! Back to your horse!"

"Yes sir!" And Hange quickly climb up her horse and return to her position.

"You attacked without any order," Erwin stated as his horse galloped to keep up the pace.

"It can't be helped sir. The Titans are gaining on us," Hange answered sheepishly.

"Oh?" Erwin asked disbelievingly, "I do recall you shouting something along the lines of 'Come to mama' and 'Come and hug me'?"

Hange smiled meekly, "Maybe it's your... imagination?"

"Good try, but I don't believe you."

And so they continued on their expedition.

**v(m)v**

They rested on a rundown house they made checkpoint the previous time. It was in clearing near a forest, and the river flowed nearby.

On their way here, they had encountered a few more Titans, ranging from the 3m class up to 15m class. They had lost even more men to the Titans. But what he and most of the men find hard to believe the most is that Hange Zoe is actually still alive.

If it was any other member who is actually alive, he won't be making great fuzz. But the one he is talking right now about is Hange Zoe, a rookie who treats a Titan like a naughty brat, a rookie who consciously gets herself into a Titan's grasp just to get closer to the Titan. And being in a Titan's grasp equals death.

So it was actually a big surprise that Hange Zoe is still standing among them, _woundless_.

Yes, she didn't even have any wound.

Erwin Smith shouldn't have worried about her. It just made his life shorter. Like that one stunt...

_Erwin was busy handling a Titan when another Titan came at her with arms wide open._

_"Oh? You want a hug?" asked her when she noticed that particular Titan, then she ran towards that Titan with open arms, shouting "Come on here! I'll give you a warm hug!"_

_But instead of hugging her, the Titan picked her by her green Survey Corps cloak and opened its mouth._

_"Hange! Attack it, damn it!"_

_But instead, he was ignored. "Eh? You want to play instead? Let's play then!" she exclaimed happily to the Titan. "I'm the dentist; you are the patient, say aahhh..."_

_But the Titan's mouth kept closing the distant to her, then suddenly..._

_"Eww! Bad breath!" Hange shouted, "Did you actually brush your teeth?"_

_And then she promptly threw something into the mouth of the Titan, causing the Titan's head to blow off and the body to fall down and rot, a part of the neck missing. She landed on the ground safely, with the Titan's hand cushioning her fall. _

_Later on, when asked what it was, all she answered was that it was just a bunch of burnt flour. What she meant by 'burnt flour', none of them understand._

And that other stunt...

_Erwin and a few of the other man had been busy handling a 14m class Titan. He had been doing well, that is, until a familiar happy shout was heard from **beside** the Titan's head._

_"Whoa! I can see many things from this height!"_

_How she got up there without anyone's notice (including the Titan itself), Erwin doesn't know._

_The Titan seems... shocked (for lack of better word) that a human managed to sneak up to stand on its shoulders._

_Said Titan prepared a fist and aimed at the human, but said human immediately jumped back, grapplers still holding tightly to the Titan's back. The Titan ended up severing its own neck._

And there are still a long list of stunts she did that he'd rather not remember for the sake of both his heart and sanity.

Though, now that he thinks of it, Sir Johnson did warn him about some quirks of her, even thought he didn't elaborate any of those quirks to him.

Is her casual disregard of her own safety her quirk? Or was it her disregard of orders from superior? Maybe it's the weird fetish she has towards the Titans. Or is it her impulses to do whatever she wants, disregarding the orders and her own safety?

Frankly, just trying to think about it right now made his head hurt.

**(-w-)**

I was... utterly disappointed in the expedition. There was no formation, just random positions. 20% of the men had died just to reach this resting spot.

If I recalled correctly, on Eren's time in military, there was a type of formation that they use to detect Titans from long range, was it? And it was created by Erwin Smith and was said to reduce the death rate by a lot?

I growled in annoyance as that is not something I can help with. All I can do is put a clue here and there to prompt him to make that 'Long Distance Enemy Detection' formation.

**(0o0)**

**Really, thank you guys for your enthusiasthic reviews! It really boosts my confidence! Also thank you for all those Favs and Follows!**


	13. Mike Zacharius

Chapter 12

**Mike Zacharius**

"Hange, wake up."

I groaned as I turned to a more comfortable position.

"Hange! It was your turn to be on the look out!"

I ignored the person calling my name.

"You're banned from any of your favorite foods for two days!"

"What?" I immediately shot up, eyes wide open in shock. I was greeted by the sight of Erwin looming over me.

"Get to your post, before I increase your punishment." Erwin said as he exited the tent. "Oh, and your look out partner is a man by the name of Mike Zacharius."

I grumbled under my breath as I stood up and put on my 3DMG before trudging out of the tent, grabbing some of my incomplete sketches with me. Mike Zacharius is a rather… familiar name. Is he part of the story?

Well, I'll know later on…

So I reached the outpost, and was met by a _really_ tall sandy haired man with a little mustache under his nose. His eyes looked down on me critically before he approached me and bent down so that his face was closer to me, then…

Then he sniffed.

And it was a dog kind of 'detect what it is' sniff.

I blinked.

_Oh! So he is the sniffing Captain! The one with the same position as Hange in the story!_

Then, as if I passed some sort of test, he straightened his back and nodded appraisingly, before finally going back to his place earlier and settled down.

_What the heck was that?_

**w(=3=)w**

At first, Mike Zacharius was a little apprehensive about Erwin's decision of pulling out a trainee who had only trained for about half year. It was simply dangerous to send someone so young and inexperienced and throw them out to the chaos of battle field. Even if that trainee survived, she will get a mental trauma.

That's why he was very shocked when the trainee, instead of running _away_ from the Titans, she ran _into_ the Titans with open arms and warm smile. With her laugh and expression, one would think that she was chasing butterflies in a flower field, but, alas, no. When the Titan was about to eat her, she just jumped away with the aid of her 3DMG whilst shouting a loud scolding "Bad boy!" and cut out a chunk of the Titan's back of neck.

He was so shocked that he thought his heart stopped.

Not only him, but also the rest of his colleagues.

It was either she has severe mental disorder or they all are going crazy.

It was most likely the first choice.

So he decided to wait until later on to know what to think of her. When he was given the order to keep watch on the night together with this new trainee, he decided to see her himself.

Sniff her he did.

But unlike most of the other people, she didn't nudge away from him or his sniffing habits. Instead, she blinked for a moment, thinking what had just happened, before settling down on a crate.

Now he understood why Erwin asked for her early graduation.

As his thoughts wandered, he suddenly heard a scratching noise and weird mumbles containing "should have used the normal electric saw", "what if I connect it to the gas" and "no need for other energy source". He looked to the girl and saw that she was drawing something.

Curious, Mike stood up and sat on the crate next beside her. He used his far more superior height to see what she was drawing on the paper without disturbing her. What he saw was not what he expected.

She was a young girl, who was supposed to think of flowers and butterfly and beauty, so automatically, he thought she was just drawing out her 'flowery' imagination. Instead, what was drawn on the paper was some sort of weapon he had never seen. Like the sword the military use, but more complex. There are smaller blades connected to chains. There are also cables and gears inside the gun like handle. The weapon was connected to the gas tank of the 3DMG by cables.

"So the weapon runs by the gas of 3DMG?" he asked curiously.

The girl, apparently, did not notice him moving to sit close to her. She squealed hardly and fell of the crate she was sitting. When she rise back up again, she gently smoothed her chest, heave out heavy breath before answering.

"Yeah, pretty much," she answered, "that was my first successful blueprint."

"You can create weapons?"

"I think, since it's actually my first time making weapon. I usually mess around with 3DMGs though…"

Mike was about to ask her more questions when he suddenly smelled the scent of impending doom.

Titans.

"Titans are coming!" he shouted aloud, warning those inside. He took out his blade and glanced to the side, where the trainee should be.

But no sign of her was found.

"Come my darling!" her sing song voice was heard in the distant, approaching the source of the giant footsteps.

"Wait!" Mike shouted after following her steps into the forest.

In his heart, while he admits that this trainee is a genius, he thought that she probably has the worst mental disorder the world can have.

**{.}**

**It was because only it's a holiday that I can update twice or trice a day, but around the 7****th**** or 8****th**** January, I will stop updating as much as this. School will be starting, so I can only update about… trice in a week, 4 times if I can somehow squeeze in. **

**I'm really, really sorry, guys…**


	14. Jigsaw

Chapter 13

**Jigsaw**

In this past 5 days of this expedition, Erwin was sure his lifespan had been reduced by 20 years.

Erwin had never felt this tired during expeditions. He can also see that Keith is more weary than normal.

But it was not because of the lost of their men or the failure of the mission. On the other hand, the mission was successful as they had found another place for their checkpoint the day before. No, it was because of the problem he brought from inside the walls.

On the second day of the expedition, Keith asked him why he seems very tired, so he explained his problems and circumstances to him. Keith nodded in understanding, saying that he will be handling the problem for him. But it turns out, after only one day; the Commander was even wearier than he was, so both of them tried to dump said problem to Mike Zacharius, who was currently their best fighter and Titan detector.

And even Mike Zacharius refused to handle the problem after only one night on guard duty with her.

They thought about leaving said problem to take care herself, but with all those crazy, suicidal stunts she did, one can't help but watch in horror and worry.

They thought about tying her up with vines since there are no ropes, and just leave her in the carts, but then again, she is a good fighter worth many soldiers. It was such a waste to tie her up.

So they have no choice but to just let her do what she wants for the last 2 days.

"Commander Sadist!" the voice of said problem was heard in a distant.

Keith Shadis sighed wearily, wondering just what she wants from him.

The 'problem' had taken upon herself to butcher Keith's name in the span of _the_ one day, but Keith can't get angry on her, since, while she purposely butchered his name, she still showed her respect by adding 'Commander' before his butchered name.

Hange Zoe came running towards them, her short ponytail swinging behind her.

"Is it true that we are returning today?"

"Yes, we've lost almost 70% of the man. We have no choice but to return."

Hange than nodded in understanding, and solemnly said, "Yeah, if only we can somehow detect the Titans from afar despite the trees, maybe we will not lose as much man…"

"True," Keith agreed.

But Erwin did not listen, his mind was still pondering on what Hange said. Is it possible to make a formation to detect Titans from afar? His mind whirls.

Unknown to anyone, Hange smirks in victory as she whispered a small, "_Mission Accomplished_."

**[ o . o ]**

After a few weeks of going out and going in to the Walls, a rumor started to spread.

A rumor specifically saying that there's a child who killed hundreds of Titans because she was playing with them and that the very same child stopped the hearts of many of the Survey Corps members. Said same child also has the habit of dissecting humans because she was curious, and lastly, said child is said to have the ability of exploding something.

The child was called by two names. One is the 'Heart Stopper', the other one is, 'Death Scientist'.

I cackled madly.

The original rumor only consist on me being a Titan lover and kills 10 Titans in different ways, one of which is by the use of explosions, and that my actions that was aroused from my love and curiosity towards the Titans (I refuse to call it quirks!) shocked most of the Survey Corps.

But because of a certain incidents, the rumors escalated to that level, like that one incident with one of the Garrisons…

_"Titan's are monsters! But don't worry, I can easily kill it!" a Garrison boasted._

_"Is that so?" I drawled, "I don't believe you. You haven't even seen the Titans."_

_"And what does a brat like you know about Titans?"_

_"Probably more than you."_

_"Why you!" and he tried to attack me. But I easily kicked him and pinned him to the floor. He tried to struggle, but when I pull out my sword, he froze in fright._

_"I'll tell you, I am a brave member of the Survey Corps. I've played and killed Titans, unlike you cowards. I'm curious, really, what is the difference between the brave Survey Corps with a coward." And the distance between my sword and his face was slowly closed. "Can I dissect you?'_

_"No, no, no, no, no!" He shouted as he trembled in fright._

_"Hey! You! Rookie!" a member of the Survey Corps shouted, "Second Commander Erwin doesn't need you to stop the hearts of any non-Survey Corps members, so stop it!"_

_"Aw, man…" I whined, "Fine! You party pooper."_

_"Oh! If you are going to make that weapon of yours, make it outside! We don't need any explosions in our HQ now do we?"_

_"Yeah, yeah," I lazily waved off._

Erwin sighed. "You really need to stop encouraging the rumors, Hange."

"But it's fun."

"It's destroying the Survey Corps's image."

I handed him the 3DMG that I finally managed to modify to him as I said, "So be it."

He carefully examined one of the pair weapon connected to it. It was the smaller version of an electric saw. Instead of the huge handle of a normal electric saw, I used the handle of the gun, so that when the trigger was pressed, the blades will run.

"If the first trigger here is for the weapon to activate, then what is the other trigger under it?"

"Grapplers," I answered, "I actually made the handle as similar as I could to the one we are used to."

"Good thinking," he said as he returned the weapon back to its sheath which is one of the modifications I made to the 3DMG to accommodate the new addition.

Then he put on the 3DMG, adjusting it to his body. Then he pulled the pair of weapon out again from the sheath and pressed the lower trigger of one of the weapons as it aimed to the trees. The grappler shot out. He nodded in approval as he pulls the grappler back.

Then he pressed the upper trigger of both weapon. The weapons started to buzz as the blades run. Then he faced one of the poor trees near the Survey Corps's training ground. Then he slashed the two swords at the same time, the way he cut the back of Titan's neck. The weapons went through, and the upper part of the tree fall back with a loud thump, a small log lay nearby.

"What's the name of this weapon?"

"Huh?"

"You're the creator, name it."

So I thought of a name. I smirked mischievously when I remembered the name of a game in my previous life which sounded a lot like saw.

"Jigsaw."

"Jigsaw, huh," Erwin trailed, "It's strong. This will surely increase humanity's chance of winning."

"U-huh," I nodded, "now all I need to know is whether it can fulfill my initial objective."

"Your initial objective?"

"Whether it can cut through a Titan's stomach from inside."


	15. Approval

Chapter 14

**Approval**

"Ho… Is this the weapon you had been talking about, Erwin?"

"Quite interesting, really."

"I don't care, as long as it is useful, than its fine."

Commander Dot Pixis was called for a meeting between the commanders of the 3 Military Factions, which is, the Military Police, Garrisons, and Survey Corps, by Erwin to be introduced to a weapon a member of his squad made. He was pretty impressed that a girl as young as her managed to create a weapon as complex as this.

He glanced at the blueprint.

Yes, way too complex.

Pixis might not be a mechanic, but he knew the basic inner workings of the 3DMG, so he understood this and that part of the blueprint of jigsaw. What he did not understand, however, was how someone so young made a weapon like that.

"Why don't you open your gloves and show us your hand?" Pixis asked with a grandfatherly smile, "You don't have to be shy if your hands are full of scratches and calluses. It is the cause of your hard work, after all!"

The girl, as if she knew about Pixis's doubt, looked at him wearily as she pulled the glove of her right hand, revealing fingers filled with light scratches.

"The other one too."

And she pulled off the gloves of her left hand even more reluctantly than the first one. Then she showed only the back of her hand.

"Now turn your hand."

She did so. Pixis observed her hand. Her hands were filled with scratches and calluses, but what's surprising is that, on her left palm, there are additional red jarring scars.

Pixis raised an inquiring eyebrow.

"There was this trial jigsaw," she mumbled, but all the occupants of the room can hear it, "when I turned it on, the gears got stuck and it exploded."

Erwin sighed, "And which explosion was that?" he asked.

"The…." She paused for a moment to recall, "Sixth one, I think, so about… 2 weeks ago. Oh and just saying, the explosion made a hole in the wall of the highest tower of the HQ, so…"

"You want me to fix it." Erwin interrupted, and then he sighed, "Fine."

Pixis raised his eyebrows at the conversation. It seems that this Hange frequently created explosions, intentionally or unintentionally. And Erwin seems resigned. So much resigned that he didn't think of his composure like the last times. Pixis turned to look at the Commander of the Survey Corps, raising another inquiring eyebrow at his dear friend Keith.

Keith sighed and shook his head, seemingly as resigned as Erwin is.

_What the-_

He turned back to the girl who was wearing the gloves. And wonders just who is she to break the composure of the scariest man (because of all the cursing) and the most stoic man.

Whoever she is, Pixis hoped that she won't make him as resigned as them. He'd make sure that she would stay as far away as possible from the Garrisons.

"So will you approve of it?" the girl asked the three commanders.

"I approve," Keith stated.

Pixis was just about to show his thoughts when Nile cut in.

"I don't approve," Nile stated, "Some parts are not found in the market, we need to make it ourselves. This jigsaw is too complex, and it will cost very expensive. Only those of the Military Police can buy it."

"Who says that I'm mass producing it?"

"Huh?"

"I did mention that my initial goal of creating this weapon is to fight against the Titans. There's no need for those in the Inner Walls or the Military Police or the Garrisons to have jigsaws. No offence Commander Pixis."

Pixis just nodded, not feeling even the slightest offence. It was true, Garrisons only defend the wall, not outright fight the Titans like Survey Corps do.

"So, right now, I'm here only to ask the approval to create some more jigsaws for those skilled enough under the Survey Corps. It's such a waste to create many complex jigsaws just for those of the Inner Walls to show off. It will just rust away if it's not constantly used."

"Hmph, I can just ask Mechanics to recreate this with the blueprint."

The girl raised an eyebrow. "That blueprint," she pointed to the blueprint on the table, "is the simplified version. This blueprint," she took the huge roll of paper, almost as tall as her, from her side and rolled it open on the table, "is the complete one, and this," she took out a pile of papers from her bag, "is the detailed drawings of each part in that." She finished as she pointed on the large paper.

Pixis looked at the large blueprint, filled with drawings and small numbers, and then he looked on the first page of the pile of papers, containing the number of parts and sizes in details.

"I would like to mass produce it," she stated, "but do you think the other mechanics can create jigsaws in such detail? From what I see in the 3DMGs, they are much simpler than this. This is why I said I'm only making it for the more skilled members of the Survey Corps, because only I can make it!"

Pixis laughed out loud, from the corner of his eyes, he saw that the other four occupants of the room straightened in shock.

"Give it up, Nile," Pixis said, "Our normal mechanic would have given up in the middle! I approve, young one!"

The girl smiled.

**( T v T )**

The rest of the discussion went well, considering the glares Commander Nile Dok sent her. Erwin sighed.

Commander Keith, Hange Zoe, and he were riding the horses back to the HQ, and he was thinking just what to do with Hange. What he meant was, she talked back to the Commander of the Military Police, for goodness sake! Now the Military Police would be out for her blood at every chance they get!

"Hange," Erwin called.

"Yes?" the goggled girl turned to look at him.

"I will assign a caretaker for you."

"Wha-"

"I agree with Erwin," the Commander interrupted her.

"But I can take care of myself!"

She was promptly ignored.

"Hey!" and both the Commander and Second Commander tuned out the remaining of her rants.

Hange is a genius with other worldly knowledge, true, but at the same time she is dead worrisome, so a caretaker who would actually prevent her from doing reckless things would be a relief for them.

He just hopes she won't do anything too…traumatic to them.

This will also be a chance for him to observe her more.


	16. Pity Them

Chapter 15

**Pity Them**

Erwin's first attempt on finding me a caretaker was to assemble every Scouting Legion's soldiers and ask me to choose. Predictably, I refused, but Erwin pulled one of the soldiers and asked me why I did not choose him.

_"Too plain looking," _I said.

Erwin growled in annoyance and pulled another soldier and asked me why I didn't choose her.

_"Too stupid," _I said.

Then he pulled each and every soldiers to face me and asked why I did not choose that particular personnel.

I just listed every adjective I can think of and answered using them.

_"Too gloomy", "Too carefree", "Too normal", "Too stoic", "Too bulky"_ and much more comments were thrown out of my mouth.

That day ended with Erwin panting in frustration and me grinning wolfishly.

His next attempt was just to assign some of the members of the Scouting Legion the task of taking care of me one by one. My first caretaker was a sandy haired man by the name of Charles Reed. After 3 days, during the first day of expedition, he quitted.

_"Hange!" he shouted, "Watch out!"_

_But I ignored him as I let the 14m class Titan grabbed me and I cooed, "Aww… such cute blue eyes! Where do you get it from?"_

_The Titan threw me inside his mouth and I let it swallow me whole._

_"Hange!" the shout of Charles Reed was last heard before I went down the throat of the Titan._

_I fell into some sort of hot slimy liquid. It was dark and dim that I can barely see a thing. The air inside was unbearably hot, probably because of the Titan's natural high temperature. I took out an empty bottle and filled it with the hot slimy liquid; wandering what kind of solution it was if it's not some digestive juice. Then I approached the flesh wall and pressed my hand on it._

_It was rather similar to meat flesh with a little bit more… jelly like properties._

_I slipped when there was suddenly a jerk by the Titans. Time to go, I guess. The air has also gotten thinner._

_I stood back up and turned my jigsaws on. I imagined the flesh wall as the Titan's back of neck and cut off a chunk of flesh that splashed into the liquid, but there was no light of the outside world. So before the Titan started regenerating, I cut off chunks and chunks of flesh, until finally…_

_"Freedom!" I shouted as I jumped out of the hole. It was when I realized I was falling down from at least a 7m height that I shot a grappler into the Titan's face and swung around, to the back of Titan's neck and cut a diagonal chunk off._

_When I landed, I was greeted by the shocked faces of all the Survey Corps members, ranging from simple disbelieve to outright incredulous. But I ignored them and did the victory dance._

_"The jigsaws cut through! Yay!"_

_Erwin approached me and grabbed my shoulders, stopping me from my dance._

_"I know when you let the Titans eat you, you are actually testing your jigsaw, whether or not it will fulfill the initial objective." Erwin stated. "But please think of those who don't know of your initial objective. They thought you died."_

_I humped, "They should have known better that Hange Zoe doesn't die easily."_

_"You should have at least warned your caretaker."_

_"What happened to him?"_

_"He quitted."_

_"That's good news to me."_

The one who broke the record of being able to 'care' me for the longest time by two weeks is a stoic blond haired girl by the name of Gabrielle. I was starting to get frustrated by the lack of screams and complain by her when she saw my habits against the Titans or the lab accidents, that is, until I found one thing she was scared the most of.

_Both of us were resting under a tree, when suddenly, something fell off to my hand. Gabrielle looked at the little thing and promptly screamed, so I looked at my hand, curious of what it was._

_Spider._

_I smirked deviously._

So after I caught a bunch of non-poisonous ones and kept them on my arms, she ran away requesting Erwin to resign her from the job.

And the fastest on to quit up to date was a bald man named Frederick, and I doubt that there will be anyone quitting even faster than him.

_I was sitting on the sofa in front of Erwin's desk while he did some nasty looking paper works._

_"Second Commander, so who will I be taking care of?" Frederick entered the room and asked, grinning goofily._

_Erwin just pointed to me. It was only a moment, and then…_

_"I quit."_

He was on the job for 1 second before he quitted.

The time passed as we had fun traumatizing (me) and being traumatized (the caretakers), being scolded by Commander Sadist and Erwin (mostly me after I made the caretakers quit), going to expeditions, killing and getting to know more about Titans and creating jigsaws. By the time I realized, I had turned 14.

Year 845…

The Fall of Wall Maria would be sometime around this year …

And then a few months passed, but the few times we went through the Shinganshina gate for expeditions, I didn't see any signs of Eren, Armin, or Mikasa.

I tried my best to recall my memories of the story, which had started to fade due time.

Eren and Mikasa… were collecting woods, right?

So if, in the future as I return from an expedition from the Shinganshina gate, I saw them with carrying a pile of woods, it will be time.

Damn.

And I can't do a single thing.


	17. The Fall

Chapter 16

**The Fall**

Erwin was shocked, to say at least, because for once, Hange Zoe stays quiet as she rides her horse for the next expedition.

"Shingashina Gate will be open in 40 seconds!" the Commander shouts from somewhere in the front.

Erwin noticed that on the last few months of expedition, every time they are going to pass Shingashina gate, she would look around, searching for someone or something. Today was no exception.

But what's different on today's search was that after a few moments of her eyes roaming around in search of something, she shuts her eyes tightly and shook her head and then she made a complicated expression before sighing heavily, muttering some curses under her breath.

He could hear something in the lines of "it's useless", "not now", "supposed during the return" and "I hope not today".

He looked at her questioningly, though she didn't notice as she was still busy cursing in light whispers.

Maybe it was one of those secrets she hid. Those secrets which just won't show up even when he sacrificed the sanity of his soldiers to be her caretakers!

"Ugh… I don't feel very good." Hange said as she leaned on to the horse. "I can't help but worry for today."

Erwin ignored her in preference of focusing on the expedition.

But the expedition went even worse than it usually is. Just few hours after they set out, they were attacked by two Deviants who ignored the one of the outer circles and ran straight into the center with great speed. A lot of the men were gone. It was only when Hange and Mike tag teamed, with Hange using any means possible in her arsenal to distract the Titans and Mike trying to land on a one-hit kill on the Titans that they managed to survive.

Nevertheless, the loss were too great, they had no choice but to return.

So they glumly passed the gate that they had just left earlier in the morning. They are licking their own wounds as they passed through the crowding people. Even Hange, who was always annoying, was watching the crowds sullenly.

She was watching two kids, one of which has his eyes shining brightly in admiration, whilst the other had a monotonous gaze. Her sullen gaze seems to be… apologizing to the kids. Though he didn't know what she was sorry for.

Then he felt that there was an additional crack in his heart when a woman came crying to the Commander, demanding to see her child. Erwin closed his eyes as the woman cried when she realized that all that's left of her child is a hand, demanding to know whether her child was useful against the Titans or not.

_No_, Erwin answered in his own heart, _all those deaths had been useless death_.

And the Commander did just that, telling the woman how there was no improvement against the Titans as he broke down.

Then they entered the gate to the inner part of Wall Maria, with their gaze down and spirits in shreds.

"Erwin," Keith called.

"Yes?"

"I'm going to give my resignation letter," Keith stated, "You're going to be the next Commander of the Scouting Legion."

Erwin just nodded his head, not at all happy at the promotion.

**(; m ;)**

The afternoon, Hange could be seen lounging on Wall Rose in the Trost District, eyes sullen as she looked at the edge of the sky, which was hidden by Wall Maria.

"You didn't return to the HQ," Erwin stated.

"Neither do you."

Erwin approached her and sat beside her.

"You've been thinking."

I looked at him indignantly and protested, "I've always been thinking!"

Erwin sighed pinching the bridge of his nose as he said, "What I meant was there is something that's troubling you."

"What made you think that something is troubling me?" Hange defended.

"You haven't been as annoying as much this past few days."

Hange scoffed, "Isn't that a good thing for you, then?"

The wind breezes softly against their cheeks.

"Actually, it was a creepy thing," Erwin stated, "Who knows what you are plotting in this silence? I've never managed to read you after all."

"Good idea, I'm actually plotting on how to dominate the world with a fork."

It was Erwin's turn to scoff now. "See what I mean? This silence is like the calm before the storm."

"The calm before the storm, huh…" Hange trailed off, "Quiet befitting of the situation."

To Erwin, when she said that line, it felt like there was a lingering hidden meaning.

Then the wind blew again, prompting the grasses on the vast field to dance with it.

"So tell me what you are thinking of."

"You're very stubborn, you know."

"Don't even try to change the topic."

Then silence, as Hange thought of what to tell him.

"This world is a cruel world, isn't it, for the creations of humans in the past to try to attack and eat us now?"

"Huh?"

"Haven't you asked yourself, where do Titans come from? Haven't you noticed their similarities with us? Didn't you find it weird, that all of a sudden, over a century ago, Titans appeared out of nowhere?"

"What are you going on about, with all this questions?"

"Titans have regenerative ability. They looked like human. They are mindless beast."

"I know all of that," Erwin stated in annoyance.

"Imagine, over a century ago when there were no Titans, the whole human race was at war with themselves. Many were severely wounded, limbs were cut away. Then you found a medicine which can regenerate your body. What do you think?"

"I still don't understand where you are going with all of this."

Hange clicks her tongue in annoyance before continuing, "With the medicine, the soldiers at war were no longer scared of severe wounds or cut limbs, as all they need to do to get back to full health is to get the medicine. But they didn't think about the side effect of getting too much of the medicine, until suddenly their limbs grew larger than it was and their body mutated. Then those who drank too much of the medicine became mindless beasts and started killing and eating anyone around them. Those who did not mutated tried to destroy the mutated humans, but everything they did were futile as the monsters grew their limbs back. So, how about that?"

"So you are saying that the Titans we had been killing used to be humans?"

"I'm very sure Titans used to be humans, what I am not sure was how they were mutated. It was only a theory I came up with if we consider the regenerating abilities."

Erwin nodded.

"And then, I was also imagining if these Titans have a mind, a human mind. Will they coexist with normal humans? Or will it be like it was now?"

"That's not something I can answer now, can I?"

"True…"

Right after Hange said that, sparks of yellow lightning can be seen in the direction of Shingashina District, followed by a loud boom. Erwin stood up and narrowed his eyes to see what was happening while Hange just stared in horror.

Erwin could see a huge red hand grabbing the top of the Wall Maria, and then a red head rose up. Erwin's eyes were wide with shock. The Walls were 50m high! That Titan needs to be at least 60m to be able to peek out of the Wall!

But unlike any normal Titans who would have tried to reach down to the humans below, all he heard from his position here was another loud boom before the red Titan disappeared in steam.

"Hange, assemble the Survey Corps. It seems like the gate was broken down."


	18. Chaos

Chapter 17

**Chaos**

The destructions were massive.

Titans were flooding in. Blood and missing limbs filled the ground. Screams and pleads of help and anger echoed around the Shingashina District.

I clicked my tongue in annoyance as I cut a Titan's neck.

Those who were available for battle in the Scouting Legion were directly sent into the fray. Our missions were to help the Garrisons evacuate the citizens.

"Hange!" Mike shouted, "There are no more humans living in this area! Move on to the next one! There are some survivors in the front!"

It was a good thing Mike was with me. He was a good smell detector and can detect the humans and Titans.

So we moved to the front, slaughtering the Titans we can kill, saving every lives we could save. Even I didn't fool around with making crazy stunts. I focused on killing the Titans in the quickest way. When I saw some Garrisons running away from the chaos up front, I scoffed.

Weaklings.

Then there was a loud explosion somewhere to the side. I looked over the roof and saw a head of a Titan moving in great speeds to the direction of the crowds.

"Mike! You take care of this area! I'm going to go for the Deviant!"

With that, I shot away with the help of 3DMG, following the quickly running Titan. During my jump in the air, I took out a ball shaped metallic object I created some time ago. It was still on trial, but… it won't hurt to try and use it, right?

So I threw the ball-like object to the Titan's direction. It latched to the back of its neck and clicked, and then…

**BOOM!**

"Damn!" I screeched as I felt the wind blowing harshly from the explosion.

When the smoke dissipated, all was left of the 9m class Deviant was the waist down to the lower part of the body. The upper part was blown to bits and the lower part fell to the ground, sizzling as it rots.

"That's…" I finally said after a moment of silence, "a bit too strong. And I was only aiming for a 1m diameter explosion, which would only destroy the neck!"

This world lacks the materials to create many of the things I can create in my previous life. So I tried to be resourceful by creating it or taking it from plants or animals. I tried to mix this and that, took away this and that, mix them with gun powders and I managed to make an explosion which destroyed part of the HQ walls (I was scolded by Commander Sadist and Erwin later on).

So I have been fooling around with explosions these past few weeks, but still…

"Damn," I whistled.

Then, from the distant, I saw it.

The Armored Titan, getting set for a run. It bent down, and kicked off; running even quicker than what the Deviant I faced earlier could even hope for. It ran pass the houses, towards the inner gate of Wall Maria. I growled.

_If I can stop him, will it be more peaceful?_

I placed my swords back to its sheath and unsheathed my jigsaws. I pressed the first triggers of each handle, letting the jigsaws to run hot, and then prepared the explosions I used earlier. When the Armored Titan passed my position, I shot my grapplers, latching it to the building across, then, with my jigsaws buzzing, I cut the Titan's back of the neck.

My jigsaws didn't broke like any other normal swords would, but it didn't cut through either. They only succeeded in making a small scratch. As I passed the Titan, I twisted my body, so that I faced the back of the Titan again, and threw the explosions I prepared in my hand.

Multiple booms were heard. And as the clouds of smoke dissipated, all I can see as a result of my explosives sent me into depression.

There were only small dents in the armor, which was quickly patched up by the Armored Titan's ability.

The Titan slammed its body to the closing gate. The gate broke. Puffs of thick steam came out of the Titan's body and it disappeared to the chaos.

"Hange!" a member of the Survey Corps shouted, "Commander Erwin had issued a retreat! We need to warn the villagers about the Titans!"

**(._.)**

Just a few hours after their return from the expedition, that Colossian Titan appeared and destroyed the Wall.

If the Survey Corps returned even a little bit later, the injured soldiers of the Survey Corp will have no choice but to join the battle too.

He walked around his new office, thinking about the Titan that was now dubbed as the Colossian Titan and the Armored Titan as he waited for the arrival of 2 individuals.

There was a knock on the door, and it creaked open before he answered, revealing Hange with her hands on the door knob and Mike following behind her.

"Tell me what you want right away," Hange growled out, "My body's sore, and I need my sleep. Today's one of the shittiest day I've ever had."

Mike bobbed her head. "That's no way to talk to your new Commander now, is it?"

Hange just harrumphed, "Erwin is Erwin. Even if he somehow managed to be the King, I will still be like this," then she faced Erwin, "State what you want."

"I promote the both of you into the position of Squad Leader."

Silence, and then…

"W-what?" Hange shouted, dumb-founded by his decision, "Are you even sure that I'm a leader material? With all those troubles I caused?"

Erwin raised a questioning eyebrow at her outburst. "You have skills. You have good strategy. You care for your members. And whilst you may not show it outwardly, you are actually good at organizing. Isn't that a good quality of a leader?"

"Actually," Mike started, "Have you think about those teams who will be part of her squad?"

"I'm sure the Survey Corps members can handle her. They can take turns in watching her."

"What about the previous Squad Leaders?"

"Their corpse was found."

"Oh."

Then they both continued to discuss about the earlier events, ignoring Hange who tried to get their attention, until she finally cursed out loud.

"Damn, your deafness is as hard as that Armored Titan's skin! Even with Jigsaws and Pac-mans, I don't think I can even get your attention!"

Both men swiveled their heads towards her.

"You went against the Armored Titan?" Erwin asked.

"Duh! I tried to stop it, but my jigsaws only leaves light scratches and my Pac-mans only leave a small dent on the skin before it closed up! And it kept running like I wasn't there!"

"And what's this 'Pac-man'?"

"All we need to do is throw these!" she took out a ball shaped metal, "It went boom earlier and destroyed the 10m class Titan body from waist up! So I tried to use it against that Armored Titan."

"So a 'Pac-man' is an explosive you created."

"Yep." Then Hange yawned, "I don't care about the promotion, all I want to do is go to bed. Can I go now?"

"Go ahead."

And Hange left the two men and Erwin sighed.

"I just hope her squad will be able to stay sane."

Mike nodded in agreement.


	19. Assistant

Chapter 18

**Assistant**

"Sir Johnson!" someone entered to the classroom, calling the attention of the Instructor. His body was cloaked with the green Survey Corps cloak.

"What is it?" Sir Johnson pauses in his lecturing about the jobs and responsibilities as a member of the Garrisons.

The Survey Corps member gave the Instructor a letter and said, "Ex-Commander of the Survey Corps Keith Shadis had resigned and will be instructing the trainees starting from next year. This is the letter concerning the details."

"Is that it?" Sir Johnson asked, taking the envelope from the Survey Corps member.

"I've also heard that Hange Zoe is tagging along with Commander Erwin in his visit today. It seems that she would also like to see the next generations."

"They are inside the Military Training Grounds? I wonder why she's visiting. Her friends in the 90th Trainee Squad would be graduating on the next six month."

"Truthfully, I didn't know. No one knows Hange reasons of doing things."

"True."

Moblit Berner, age 19, is a proud member of the 89th Trainee Squad who will formally graduate in the next day. He placed the 6th in the rankings, and was given the privilege to serve as Military Police, but no, he wanted to join the Survey Corps, because they are the only one who actually did their job.

The class is dismissed, their next lesson in the schedule after lecture today is sparring, and so all the trainees entered the Training Ground. The instructor paired them up and they started sparing.

It was during his spar that he noticed a goggle wearing girl, quite young, sitting under the shades of tree while watching them spar. She wore a plain white shirt with black-brown pants, nothing abnormal. But what's abnormal is that she was not wearing the Trainee uniform, which only means that she is not a Trainee.

He lost his focus and was hit by his sparring partner, Eld Jinn. Then everything about the girl was forgotten as he tried to get even with Eld.

During the sunset, after he ate dinner, he recalled the girl he saw earlier, wondering if she will still be under the tree. Though, if that's so, that girl is probably hungry by now. He sneaked in to the kitchen and took a kettle. He poured a cup of milk and heated it up with chocolate as he put in a few spoons of sugar, intending to give the sweetened chocolate milk to the girl. He poured the hot brown liquid into the mug as he sneaked out of the kitchen.

If the Instructor or any of the military members see him now, he would immediately be punished to run hundreds of laps.

True enough, the girl was still there, sitting under the tree, placing her chin on one of her ankles as she tried not to dose off. As he approached her, she looked up to him from her position below and sent a questioning glance when he offered the huge mug her way.

"Sweetened chocolate milk," he stated.

The girl's eyes immediately brightened as she took the mug of hot liquid from his hand, looking at him as if he was a messiah coming down to save the world.

"Thank you!" she smiled as she took a small sip of the hot deliciousness.

"Just don't tell any military members, I might get heavily punished," he said, when the girl sent him another questioning glance, "I sneaked it off from the kitchen after all."

The girl just smirked mischievously as she said, "Don't worry! The secret is safe with me!"

Then they talked about mundane things, about the military, about his trainings, about him wanting to join the Survey Corps (he don't know why, but the girl smiled even wider when he stated this) and she talked about the weapons she created, about her best friend called Levi and how they both created chaos. They talked until the time she needed to go.

"It has been fun talking with you," she said as she stood up and handed the mug back to him, "but I have to go."

"Same goes to me," he said as he stood up, mug in hand.

"What's your name?"

"Moblit. It's Moblit Berner."

"Well, Moblit, see you tomorrow on your graduation!" The girl shouted as she ran, waving her hands all the way.

**(9w9)**

"Erwin, I've found an angel."

"Huh?"

"I'd like the angel to work under me."

"What are you talking about?"

"He's going to be my assistant."

"What?"

"His name is Moblit Berner, remember that."

**(v_v)**

Graduation was tense, Moblit admit, as he listens to the Commander of Survey Corps ranting about the dangers of working under him. He asked them to turn away and leave now, if they did not dare to take the risk, but he stayed, standing still with hands on his heart as others passed by him.

Only few of them remained.

It was not weird, considering the fall of Wall Maria not long ago.

But he was shocked to death when suddenly the Commander Erwin called his name.

"Moblit Berner, step forward!"

Step forward he did.

"One of my Squad Captains had taken interest in you, and would like to make you her assistant."

While his face stands stoic, his mind was wondering just what he did to warrant the interest of a Squad Captain. That is, until, the Commander called the name of the Squad Captain.

"Hange Zoe! Step forward!"

And a girl came out of the shadows. It was the brown haired goggles wearing girl he met yesterday. But now, instead of the casual wear, she wore a military uniform with the pair of Wings of Freedom proudly printed on it.

"Hello, Moblit, my name is Hange Zoe" the girl grinned, "From now on, you will be working under me as an assistant. Don't worry! Your secret is safe with me!"

He was speechless.

Was it because he offered a cup of warm sweet chocolate milk that she chose him?

The Commander asked him to stay when the graduation is done to have a few discussions regarding being Captain Hange Zoe's assistant.

"Listen, Hange is the most unpredictable and one of the strongest soldiers the military had ever had, but at the same time, she is the most worrisome soldier. So while in her eyes you are working as her assistant, your actual job is to take care of her, understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"She is a skilled mechanic, but has a habit of exploding things, intentional or unintentional. And she always forgot to inform me when one of the explosions happened. So one of your jobs are to reduce the amounts of explosions and report to me when the explosion does happen."

"Understood."

"Also, on the battle field, ignore whatever she did as much as possible."

"Huh? May I ask why, sir?"

The Commander then looked at him in pity as he placed a hand on the newly graduate's shoulder. "Lastly, stay sane."

"Huh?"

"You're dismissed."

And the Commander walked away, leaving Moblit with many questions unanswered.


	20. The Horror that is Hange

**_A/N : For this chapter, I'm really, really sorry to the guys who reads this... it's the only thing I thought of..._**

**_0.0_**

Chapter 19

**The Horror that is Hange**

"Moblit, call for Hange to my office. There has been trouble."

Moblit saluted and ran out in search for Hange.

Erwin pinched the bridge of his nose as he sighed heavily. He looked at the brown haired man in front of him, who was sitting on a chair with hands tied to the back with chains. His legs were also tied to the two front legs of the chair. Said person narrowed his eyes defiantly.

"Mike, do you have any idea on how to make him talk?" Erwin asked.

Mike, who had been standing beside Erwin, shook his head, "No, but Hange probably would. I'm sure she would take it to the extreme, since it concerns her beloved 'babies'."

Erwin nodded in agreement.

**BANG!**

The door was slammed open, revealing a disheveled Hange with Moblit panting behind her, and Hange immediately demands, "What kind of trouble?"

"It concerns the 30 Jigsaws you created for the more skilled members of the Survey Corps."

"What? What happened to my babies?" she asked frantically.

"A traitor from the Survey Corps, Grory Abbot," Erwin motioned to the chained man, "apparently made use of the chaos during the fall of Wall Maria and stole thirty 3DMGs that had been modified and had the jigsaws installed to them. These modified 3DMGs with jigsaws costs extremely expensive. He proceeded to sell them somewhere for the money."

"What!" Hange then approached the man, picking him by his shirt's collar and shaking him wildly, "Where? Where did you sell my babies to?" she asked frantically.

The man growled and spitted at her face, "As if I'm going to tell you."

Hange dropped the man and extended her hand to Moblit's direction. Moblit placed a neatly folded handkerchief to her hand, which she used to wipe her face before Moblit took it back and placed the handkerchief to his pocket.

Moblit, Erwin admits in his heart, is a very useful assistant, despite only being with her for one day.

"So you won't talk huh?" Hange challenged as she paced in front of the man with fingers on her chin as she thought of a way.

_"You guys better clean the mess up, before I choose to use soap to scrub your tongue! NOW!"_

Then she stopped with a malicious smirk painted on her face and extended her hand on Moblit's direction, saying, "Soap."

And Moblit _really_ pulled out a chunk of solid soap from his pocket. Erwin and Mike wondered just how effective Moblit as an assistant is.

Then Hange kicked the shin of the traitor. He yelped, and Hange took this chance to grab his tongue and yanked it down, using the soap to scrub his tongue ferociously. Mike winced, the man looks like he was going to faint from the taste and from the force. When she stopped, she asked.

"Now, would you tell me?"

The man panted, and he answered a rebellious, "No."

Moblit was silently grateful he was wearing gloves today as he took the disgusting soap from Hange's hands and threw it to the bin.

"Aww… you still won't talk?" she asked as she paced in front of the man again, "What to do? What to do?"

Then she stopped, eyeing the man up and down, eyes landing on the most precious part of a man's body before she asked, "The most precious body part a man has is their… reproductive organ, right?"

All the males in the vicinity winced, Erwin included. Don't tell them she was actually going to…

"Then, shall I castrate it?" Hange asked with a smile as she pulled one of the normal swords from her 3DMG sheath. "Moblit! Strip him off his pants!"

_What? Now he is the one who do the... perverted thing?_

Nevertheless, despite his thoughts Moblit slowly approached the man as he sent pitying glances to the criminal.

"Though, this is my first time castrating someone…" Hange trailed off, then continued with a cheery tone, "Oh, well! Please bear with the pain, Mr. Grory Abbot!"

In the background, Mike asked Erwin, "Should I stop her? I'm starting to pity the man."

"Don't," Erwin answered as he scrunched his eyes and hissed, as if he is imagining himself in the situation, "This is one of the sacrifices to get what we want."

Realizing that no one is going to stop her, he shouted, "I'll talk! I'll talk! So please don't do that!"

"Okay," Hange smiled, and all the other men in the vicinity heaved a sigh of relief, specially Moblit who stopped his approach, "So where did you sell my babies to?"

"T-the underground city…" the man answered reluctantly.

"And to which dealer did you sell it to?"

"I-I can't say that."

Hange sheathed her sword back, and then she asked, "Can't? Or won't?" as she unsheathed her jigsaws and pressed the triggers. The sword buzzed. "Since you stole the 3DMGs with Jigsaws installed, should I use my jigsaw instead to castrate you? Moblit! Off with his pants!"

"I'll talk! I'll talk! The dealer's name is…"

**(… …)**

Using the information Hange extracted, the Survey Corps managed to retrieve all 30 modified 3DMGs back. Hange had immediately run off happily to do maintenance to her poor babies, and the other Survey Corps members have returned back to the surface.

It was only Erwin and Mike who were still in the underground city strolling around. They had been sightseeing, until a fight suddenly started in the streets.

A beardy man got angry at a… kid? He got angry at the cloaked kid for bumping him and tried to hurt the kid. The kid dodged skillfully and sent a strong kick to the man, sending the larger man into an oil barrel.

"You brat!" the man proceeded to pull out a gun and aimed it at the kid.

Mike tried to move to protect the kid, but Erwin's hand was raised, asking him to stand down and watch.

The kid, quicker than lightning, pulled out a gun from beneath the cloak, shooting two bullets at the direction of the man. One of which hits the gun, the other hitting the barrel. The oil filled barrel exploded, sending splinters to the crowd. The impact hits the man on the back, burning the skin, but Erwin was sure the man did not die.

The man stayed on the ground, unmoving as the kid narrowed his gaze on him. Sure that the man won't be attacking anytime soon, he placed his gun back into his cloak and took out… another gun?

No, Erwin notices that it is grapplers, the exact same one as the military.

Than grapplers shot out as the black haired boy pressed the trigger. Erwin's blue orbs met with the kid's, and grey eyes widened at the Military uniform Erwin used. And Erwin's eyes widened at what he saw tied to the boy's waist.

A 3DMG.

The boy then shot up, skillfully sending out grapplers as he turns and twist and swing in the air.

"Mike! Trail him! I want him in the Survey Corps!"

And Mike did just that, following the kid without his notice.


	21. Recruit Him

Chapter 20

**Recruit Him**

_"Hey, Levi!"_

_"What." Levi snapped._

_"When I meet you again, I will be hugging you."_

_"Huh?" The corners of Levi's lips turned down, "No."_

_"Objection objected." Hange said as she grinned widely._

_"The fucking objection of objection is objected."_

_"What?" Hange exclaimed loudly, "Is there even such thing as that?"_

_"There is," Levi scoffed, "You just heard me creating it earlier."_

_"But that's no fair!" she complained, "I really want to hug Levi! Even after 5 years being together, you've never given me a hug!"_

_"But you kept on hugging me anyways, despite the numbers of times I've hit you. And the average of your one day hugs is a damnable 7 hugs."_

_"Oh! You even counted that! How caring you are!" Levi attempted to hit her in the throat, which Hange skillfully dodged as she gushed with a huge, dreamy smile, "So then, I'll just glomp on you when I meet you again!"_

_"That is," Levi grounded out, "If we meet again. And I doubt a criminal in underground would meet with a Survey Corps member."_

_"Oh, don't worry! We'll meet! I'm sure of it!" Hange assured, but it only made him feel worse, "Until then, keep that cravat! I'll also use this goggle!"_

_With that, Hange runs away, a hand waving behind her in a goodbye._

Levi opened his eyes and blinked. He was dreaming about that day, the last day the both of them met.

He sighed in annoyance as he prepared himself for his next mission.

Was he dreaming about that day again because of the uniform the blond man of yesterday wore? The military uniform with the Survey Corps emblem printed proudly on the chest? The Wings of Freedom?

_"I want to join the Survey Corps, not for something as mundane as glory and wealth. I want to satisfy my curiosity."_

Was it because the Wings of Freedom reminded him of her initial goals? He was sure that she was still training in the military, since it has only been one and a little bit more than a half year since they separated after all. He smirked in victory.

Hange is still in the training grounds learning how to fight like a sitting duck while he is already one of the best in the underground city. He is so going to rub it to her face if they meet.

_If_ they actually meet.

Though Levi was sure that that will be close to impossible.

He was just preparing for the reappearance of Hange, that's all.

He tucked the cravat neatly to his neck, elegant gold embroidery showing proudly, some twisting with each other to form the initials 'L' on one corner and 'H.Z.' on the other corner. Despite after being one and a half year in constant use, it was still pristine white, not yellowed by time and use.

Then he put on the 3DMG both he and Hange stole back when they were younger. They had forgotten to return it back to the Garrisons after Hange successfully modified it, so Hange kept those 3DMGs to herself and kept on modifying it to her taste. One of the two 3DMGs was adjusted to his liking, and until now, that is the 3DMG he used in the underworld.

What about the other 3DMG?

He didn't know of the fate of it, and he didn't care.

He tested the working condition of the 3DMG and was satisfied with it, so he went out of the room he rented and shoots away for his next mission, never realizing that, in the shadows, a certain man was sniffing his way.

**(QwQ)**

"Hange. You are going on a recruitment mission."

"Huh?"

"I've found an individual in the underground city who is able to use 3DMGs better than most of the soldiers, so I have Mike trailing him now. And…"

But before Erwin could continue any further, Hange interrupted him, "Oh! I can just guess who he is! And you want to recruit him for the Survey Corps?" Hange asked, face as bright as, maybe even brighter than the sun, "I'll tag along with you! I'll just go back to my room and take something, so wait for a moment, okay?"

And Hange skipped away, muttering something along the lines of hugging and kissing someone to kingdom come and something about bribing said person with one of her babies.

He wondered what she was talking about, but ignored his curiosity in preference of calling the other skilled member of the Survey Corps to accompany him.

When she returned, she had Moblit, who was behind her, carry a bag for her. He obeyed and slung the bag to his shoulders, despite not knowing what was inside.

What's more confusing was that Hange was trying to warn the members, him included, of weird things as they ride a carriage to the underground city entrance.

"Firstly, since Erwin said that we are sneaking into his room and wait for his return, you need to remember to clean your shoes. He won't be happy if the guests are dirtying his house, no? And he is a first class dirt and dust detector, even better than Mike's nose."

_Are they going to a recruitment mission or a tea party?_ Erwin wondered. Her screws in her brain are even more… loose than it usually is.

Then she talked to herself, "No, in fact, he would be beyond furious, and I can already imagine him angry," then she shuddered and loudly said, "Just make sure you didn't leave any dirt in his room, okay?"

Naturally, as everyone in the group was used to Hange's rants, they tuned her voice out.

"Secondly, don't touch him; he won't like to be touched even when you are shining clean…"

And so Hange continued her tirades of rants and warnings as the carriages runs.

**(U3U)**

Levi returned to his room through the window. But just as he slid the window open, he noticed something.

There was dirt on the floor.

Someone had sneaked in to his room.

His eyebrow twitched.

He kept his face as blank as possible as he entered his room and slid the window close, though inside he was boiling with rage to whoever dared to place _dirt_ in his room. Whoever sneaked inside, Levi was sure to beat them up to the point that they would rather meet their beloved ones who are no longer in this world.

He was very sure of it.


	22. Touching Reunion

Chapter 21

**Touching Reunion**

Levi brought his hand to the handle of the pistol he hid under his cloak, his finger rounding the cool trigger, preparing himself against the oncoming assault.

He noticed that the dirt print separated from its point under the window, which means that there is a group of people. If there are multiple people, they need a leader to move in unison, so, if the leader shouted his cue…

"Now!"

That was Levi's cue to aim his pistol to the direction of the voice. It was a blonde man, hiding himself in the cupboard's side.

By the blonde's cue, multiple sounds of muskets clicking in preparations for use were heard, and the other assailants revealed themselves from their hiding places. There was one person under his bed, two people from inside the cupboard, one person from under the table, and two people from the only door. All of them holding firearms aimed at him. In total, there are seven assailants, if the leader was included, and all of them were holding firearms.

And what's surprising was that they were all using the military uniform. The Survey Corps's uniform, to be exact. But he stored his thoughts away for later in favor of handling the current situation.

Levi was circled completely by the enemy, with no way out. No way to run other than the window behind him. But even when given the chance to run out of the window, he won't, because he has an unfinished business with some of them.

"Who the fucking hell dared to leave those shitty shit in my room?" Levi growled out.

If the soldiers were baffled by his question, then they did a good job at hiding their emotions.

Just as Levi wanted to ask his question again to those military fools, he heard the window behind him shatter.

"Leviii!" an eerily familiar voice squealed out, "Long time no meeeeet!"

"The hell?" he cursed as he turned around, but he was tackled by a brown blur to the floor, his lungs knocked out of air.

"Let me hug you and then slobber you with kisses!"

Before he even opened his mouth, he could feel a pair of arms circling his neck.

"Damn no, shitty bitch!" he shouted out.

"You don't need to worry! I'm totally clean! No dirt and dust!"

He growled in annoyance as he pressed his hand forcefully against her nose, intending to push her away.

"Awww…" the voice of horror cooed sweetly, "Come on! Don't be shy! I know you want a kiss from me!"

"You Shitty Four-Eyes!" Levi cursed as he struggled to keep the face of horror as far as possible from him, "Even in your dreams, I would never want a kiss from anyone!"

"I'm special! Since I'm not just anyone!" she retorted back with that cheery voice of her, "So I have special privileges to kiss and hug you!"

Suddenly, Levi could feel the strength of her approach increasing drastically, and then…

She pecked his cheek.

**(-_-)**

Their orders were to wait on top of the building in front of the window and use any means necessary to stop him if he shot out of the window, but no death or critical injuries. And his extra orders were to keep his Captain from going out of the orders.

So when, after a few moments of the kid's entrance through the window, his Captain suddenly shot off and shattered the window, he was totally baffled.

"Captain!" Moblit shouted as the Captain broke the window. Without any further ado, he took the bag Captain told him to hold and immediately followed his Captain, entering the room through the broken window, only to be greeted with another baffling sight.

Not baffling, but unexpectedly unexpected and weirdly baffling, because Commander Erwin told him to expect the unexpected and prepare for the confusion when it was with his Captain, and he had learned how to in the span of the two days with her. So this…sight is in another level of Hange's weirdness level.

She was grappling with the boy, her arms around his neck and his hands to her face, fighting over whether she should kiss him or not. Well, more like Hange cheerfully answering while the boy cursing loudly. But still…

He could even see the question marks popping above each and every soldier in this room, Commander Erwin and Captain Mike included, as they watch the wrestling match. One thing for sure, his Captain knew this boy very well.

Captain Hange sure has weird connections with weird people in weird places.

Then he remembered that chat he had the first time they met, when he didn't know she was actually a captain.

_"Many of my friends in the military had gotten themselves into so much mischief that the Instructor might explode." Moblit told the goggled girl._

_"Oh, really?" the brown haired girl smiled mischievously and boasted, "That's nothing against the trouble I caused with Levi!"_

_Curious, Moblit asked her, "What kind of mischief did you cause?"_

_"Just after few days we first met," the goggled girl started, "We stole a 3DMG from the Garrisons! Two of them! And we made a great team! I distract the guards, and Levi would sneak in!"_

_If that is the trouble both of them caused only after a few days, Moblit refused to think of the trouble they are capable to create after a few years._

_"And Levi is so cute when he is angry! He is like a kitten! I had never thought that Levi of all people would look like a kitten!"_

_"You seem to like Levi very much."_

_"Of course I do! He is a little jerk who just thinks about orders and cleanliness," said the brunette in a cheery tone despite the contents of the sentence, then she pouted, "But he is shy… he won't let me hug him."_

_Moblit just nodded numbly as he found another topic of interest to talk about._

Could this boy be Levi? But isn't Levi supposed to be shy?

But then, his Captain is not most people. This might be his Captain's way of saying that Levi doesn't want to be with her.

_That_, Moblit thought, _is extremely likely. _

_Too likely._


	23. Her Bribe

**A/N: Thank you for your very enthusiastic reviews! Thank you ****Kanato-The-Kreeper**, **Aori Rihito** (Oh, you have my permission to scream) ,**OnePiecefan202**, **FuzzyPurplePickle**, **a-little-crazy-is-good-for-you** and Anonymus!

**C**hapter **_22_**

**Her Bribe**

It was unexpected.

The kiss was so unexpected that Levi froze.

Hange stood up and dusted herself cheerfully when she suddenly spotted something on the floor.

"Ah!" Hange cried out in horror, "There is _dirt_ on the floor! No wonder Levi seems like he wanted to skin someone alive!" Then she turned to all the occupants of the room and shouted with a commanding tone, "Who among you left all that dirt! Didn't I warn you that Levi didn't like dirt? Or did every warning I said enters your right ear and left through your left ear? Huh?"

All the soldiers silently admitted that it was actually the last one. But even now, they ignored her in preference to handle the criminal in front of them.

"Didn't I warn you to _not_ aim any gun at him? Huh?" She asked acidly as she looked around the room, her gaze landing on each soldier. "Erwin!" she shouted, "What is the meaning of this? I told you that I know of the guy, didn't I?"

Truthfully, he turned out her rants in the cart since her rants are usually all about Titans, weapons and other weird mundane things, but, well… he need to keep up appearances, so, "You do, but he is still a weapon holding criminal, we have to take precautions."

Just as she was about to retort back, she suddenly felt her legs lost their footing to the ground and landed on her face. She felt a foot grounding her back harshly. And she heard clicks of guns as the soldiers tensed.

"I thought," Levi started with gritted teeth, "that there will be no kiss involved?"

"Ahaha…" Hange laughed nervously, trying to ignore the pain and those deadly gaze aimed at her back, "But that was one and half a year ago! I missed you so much, and I know you miss me too! A measly hug won't be enough!"

When there was only silence from Levi, Hange twisted her neck painfully to get a glimpse of his face. True, Levi's eyebrows were more narrowed than usual, but she could see a smile trying to break free of his scowling lips. But most shocking of all is…

"You're blushing!" Hange exclaimed in a happy surprise, "Could it be that the kiss I gave to you just now is the first kiss you ever get from a girl? Oh my goodness! I have Levi's first ever kiss in his life! Owowowow!" she shouted in pain as the foot grinded her back, "You Mr. Clean Freak! It hurts!"

"Shitty Four-Eyes, you better explain to me what is happening now, before I made you into a blind Shitty Two-Eyes."

"I missed you! That's what happened! So it really is the first kiss you ever get, huh…" She trailed off, before she felt the grind on her back become more intense, "Ouch! Okay! Okay! The Survey Corps wants to recruit you, you Clean Freak!"

"What makes you think I would join?"

"I don't know! Ask Erwin!" She practically yelled as she pointed at the blond man standing beside the cupboard.

Levi turned his eyes to where she pointed at. Blonde man, blue eyes, Levi realized that this man, the leader, is probably the one who saw him yesterday, and he realized that it was probably this man who brought him all the troubles.

Levi growled.

"You have skills, even better than some of my trained soldiers. Survey Corps needs more people like you."

"Very creative Erwin," Hange sarcastically drawled from her position on the ground, "You also said more or less the same line to me before you early graduate me."

Erwin ignored her, Levi stomped on her, Hange groaned in pain.

"Why should I join you? Being a soldier is like being a shit."

Erwin hummed in thought, "We could clean your criminal records. You can also have access to the Military's Weaponry Storage."

Levi scoffed, "Not interested. Try again."

"Then it's either you join us and have your records cleaned or _die_ here."

The room became tense as Levi growled in annoyance. He was now fully circled, nowhere to go. The window was also guarded by an auburn haired man who entered after Hange. There are eight assailants in total, excluding Hange, since she was sure to fool around. And even if he took Hange as a hostage, it will be more troublesome than it's worth for.

"So?" Erwin asked, ignoring Hange who was shouting about some things, "Your decision?"

Levi clicked his tongue in annoyance. "No."

Erwin motioned his hands, "Then…"

"Stop it right there!" a voice shouted, followed by multiple small explosions to the ceiling of the room. Everyone turned their heads to the only possible source of explosions.

Hange.

"Hello? Is anyone listening to me here now?" Hange looked around the room. Sometime in the middle of the suffocating atmosphere, she had somehow gotten herself free from Levi's foot and was standing near Moblit. A bunch of pillow replaced Hange under Levi's foot. Realizing that every attention was to her, she said, "Good! I have something important to say! Moblit!"

She extended one of her hand towards Moblit. Moblit, understanding what she wanted, gave the bag he had been holding. Hange opened the bag and took out a wrapped package. Then she ripped the packaging papers, revealing a… odd thing, something they had never seen before. There was a handle, and then a tube thing and they can't really understand the other parts.

"Levi! If you join, I'll give you this baby," Hange motioned to the weird thing, "to you!"

Levi growled, "No."

"What? You didn't even know what it do, right?"

"Still, no."

"Aww," Hange pouted, "I named it '_Levi II_' for a reason you know?"

"You what? You named your shitty creation by my name?"

"It's not shitty!" Hange protested, "And I named it because it is a good cleaner like papa Levi! Right, _Levi II_?" she cooed to the machinery, "I'll show you!"

Then Hange pressed a button. The weird machine started humming steadily. She approached the dirt and closes the distance between the machine and it. After a moment, the dirt on the floor disappeared.

Levi noted that there wasn't any speck of dirt left.

"_Levi II _can pull in dust and dirt! As long as you clean the dust storage and refill the gas tank after each use, and as long as you give this baby back to me once in a while for maintenance, _Levi II _will be able to clean well!"

Levi thought of considering, but, "No."

"Ouch!" Hange placed her hand on her chest dramatically, where her heart should be, "But this thing I created specifically for you! It's one of a kind!"

Levi was really, really tempted to sabotage that thing from her hand and run away, but with the other soldiers… he didn't think he would be able to. Just resist the temptation…

The others were watching the exchange back and forth.

"I know you want it~" Hange said in a sing a song voice, a sly smile etched on her face as she waved her invention in front of his eyes. Levi tried to avert his eyes from the piece of mechanic.

Ignore the temptation…

Ignore it…

The temptation…

Levi clicked his tongue. He had fallen into the temptation.

"Fine."


	24. Trust

Chapter 23

**Trust**

"Levi, are you shorter than the last time I met you?"I asked as I sent out a punch to his guts.

"Hell no," Levi growled as he blocked the punch and sent a punch of his own, "I've grown."

"Oh? By how much?" I asked curiously as I waltzed around the punch and tried to send a jab of my own, which was easily parried.

"4." Levi answered curtly as he sent a kick.

"Is it 4 inches? Or 4 cm?" I asked slyly as I ducked under the kick, "Oh, its 4 cm, is it? That's barely growth, Levi. Even I grew around 7 cm this past one and half year. You are destined to be short, Levi."

Levi growled in annoyance as he picked up his pace, increasing the speed of the spar. I managed to block most of his punches, but some I was unable to block because Levi had just gotten _that_ quick. I tried to send a kick in between his punches, but he grabbed my leg and threw me to the ground. I landed face first to the ground. I was about to stand again and fight when I felt my arms twisted to the back painfully and a weight of a person settled on my back.

I could feel Levi smirking in victory even from down here, like during our stay in the orphanage, but I refuse to admit lose to the verbal fight.

"Oh? Your shortness is a sore topic, is it?"

Levi growled in annoyance. "Shut your bitchy mouth for once, Shitty Four-Eyes."

"Nope, I'm proud of my talking mouth, it's very good at annoying the hell out of people."

"Then I'll just stuff that bitchy mouth of yours with shit."

"Your mouth is even fouler than back then, Levi," I whined, "Maybe I should destroy the underground city since they taught you all those foulness…"

His grip hardened, he twisted my hands further.

"Owowowow! Okay Levi, I give, I give! You Clean Freak, I was just fooling around!" I shouted in pain.

He stood up and let go, my arms are finally free of pain. I stood up and twisted my arm to check if it was still intact, because _damn_, Levi had also gotten _that_ much stronger!

I scoffed.

Privileges of being a guy, I swore.

"Captain Hange," a hesitant voice called from the sides.

"Yes?" I turned to look at the source. It was my eternally faithful assistant, Moblit.

"Commander Erwin called for you in his office. He also asked me to take your friend around the HQ and introduce some members."

"Okay. Levi, you fine with it?"

"Anywhere is fine as long as I can get away from you, Shitty Four-Eyes." Levi said as he walked away, following Moblit into the huge castle that is our HQ.

"Geez! Cruel as always, Mr. Clean Freak!" I shouted back, walking into the entrance that is closer to Erwin's office.

I weaved through the hallways, up the stairs, into another set of corridors, until I finally reached a door labeled Commander's Office. I didn't bother knocking, since it was for boring people, so I just banged the door open with a shout of, "Erwin! The hell do you want? And I was having fun with Levi until you sent Moblit to me!"

Erwin was behind his desk, writing documents to be filed, not at all phased by my antiques.

I clicked my tongue in annoyance as I approached the sofa and sat across his desk.

He, Mike, and some of the other members of Survey Corps had learned how to ignore me in the span of just one year! I'm going to step up my antiques, so it's a good thing that Levi is here.

"What do you think about entering Levi to the Military Training Camp?"

I thought for a moment. "There's no need. Levi had gotten the basics of 3DMGs and the handlings of a gun, so all he needs to learn is how to use the sword correctly. If we enter him to the camp, we will only waste our time."

"True, but we can't as well send him to the field without the knowledge of Titans and how to kill them."

"I can easily teach him how to. All I need is to borrow the Titan Killing Stimulation in the forest for his training."

"But can we really trust Levi?"

"Huh?"

"I asked," Erwin stated, "Can we really trust Levi to not run away? You had already given him that _Levi II_, right?"

Ah, so that's what he is trying to ask. He wants to know what kind of person Levi is, so he asked the person closest to him, which is me.

I scoffed, "Of course he won't run away. He trusts me you know? Every single decision I made since we were kids. I too, trust him with my life. So, I know he won't run away."

"Is that really only about it? Trust?" Erwin asked, sensing something amiss from my sentence as he scribbled some things on the paper.

"Not really," I mumbled, but I'm sure Erwin heard, "He also knows me all too well to know that I will chase him to the end of Earth if he dared to run away with my baby."

Erwin chuckled dryly, "More trouble than it's worth, probably. Living with military is easier than running away from an explosive technician, it seems."

"Hey! Not everything I made explodes!" I protested loudly.

Erwin scoffed in disbelieve and returned back to the topic, "So I'll let you handle him then. And I'll also inform Instructor Keith Shadis that he will only join the Titan Killing Stimulation Training once in a while."

I nodded in understanding.

"And our first expedition to Wall Maria will be in three days, prepare him as much as possible."

"Eh? You are bringing him? Isn't that a bit too quick? I haven't even briefed him about the Titan's weak points!"

"Then do it in three days," answered Erwin like it was the most common answer, and then he ordered, "Dismissed."

I growled.

_Oh, why you… I am so going to get you back._


	25. Rants

Chapter 24

**Rants**

When he asked Hange if they can trust Levi, she seems so sure like it was a fact by itself.

Now Erwin wanted to ask Levi about his true goals, about why he actually joined the Survey Corps, about his connection with Hange, and most importantly, if he knows whatever thing Hange is hiding.

He turned around a corner and walked towards the Mess Hall, where he asked Moblit to bring Levi after the short tour around the HQ.

It has already been a little bit more than one year since their first meeting for goodness sake! At first he listened to her rant, thinking that she might just accidentally reveal what she had been hiding, but not only did she keep her secret well, her rants are also tiring to hear!

(She talks from Titans and then to weapon, and then she talked about human psychology and their habits, than she compared humans and Titans, then she talked about cutting open a living Titan to see if they actually have a heart, then she was back to talking about weapon. After all those topics, she restarted again, but now it was together with the possibilities of 'why's and 'how's. When she was done, she talked about weird things that she might make and where to find their materials and so on and so forth.)

So after just a few days, he started ignoring her rants, preferring to focus on his job as a Commander than her insanity inducing rants.

He opened the door to the Mess Hall, where he stood frozen shock at the sight.

All of his soldiers, who were trained to _fight_ Titans, were bustling around the Mess Hall with rolled up sleeves, some with a bandanna holding up their hair, and the most surprising was that those lazy soldiers were actually _cleaning_. Some were wiping, some were sweeping, and some others were collecting the dishes.

"The hells are you doing! Go take a fucking chair and sweep the shitty ceiling! There are shits everywhere! I don't want any god damn speck of shit lingering here!"

When he looked at the source of the orders, he was surprised to see that a Military newbie was actually the one barking out orders for them to clean. Said newbie immediately snuffed out those who were slacking and kicked them on their jaws as punishment.

That time, that moment, Erwin decided that when the time comes, he is having Levi train under him for the position of the Commander. Levi is a perfect Second Commander one could have, minus the cursing and his extreme love of cleanliness.

Hange was too… unstable to lead the whole Survey Corps. She might destroy the whole Survey Corps just for the heck of it.

He thought about handing the position of the Second Commander to Mike. Mike, despite his mostly indifferent attitude, was actually very caring towards his subordinates, and Mike was the safer choice between him and Hange. But what made him unsuitable to be the Commander was the exact same reason why he became a Squad Captain. He was caring, and he would hesitate to sacrifice soldiers for humanity.

But now he found someone who knew the harshness of the world through the underground city, someone who knew that sacrifices are required and someone who can lead, he was not going to let the chance go away.

So all he needed to do is make sure where his loyalty lies.

Erwin cleared his throat, and everyone halted in everything they are doing.

"Levi," Erwin called, "I need you in my office now."

As Levi walked forward, Erwin could see that all his soldiers slumped in relieve, before Levi turned around and barked out, "Don't you dare to laze around! I want this shitty room clean by the end of today!"

All the soldiers immediately shot back to work, and the room was filled with the bustles as the door closed. Erwin led him to his office and opened the door. Levi looked around and nodded in approval as Erwin sat behind his desk.

"What's your connection with Hange?"

"So this is an interrogation?"

"You can say it that way."

Levi immediately answered in tandem, "She's a Shitty Four-Eyed Bitch who drags me into whatever shitty situation she lands herself to, even when we are still a child."

Erwin nodded in understanding, in the simplified version, it means that the both of them were childhood friends.

"When and where did you get that 3DMG?"

"Hange, nine years ago, stole it from Garrisons."

Now Erwin felt compelled to discipline Hange.

"Tell me; is Hange always this… unstable?"

"What kind of shitty things she did?"

Erwin sighed before he listed off, "Playing with Titans, exploding things, ranting all time till people's heads hurts, searching for fun in unbelievable places, disregarding her life and so much more I can think of."

"Then yes, though she only bitch about on occasions to mess with people's minds, like when you are trying to find out something she didn't want you to find out," Erwin noticed the corners of Levi's lips twitched down, as if he was remembering something unpleasant. "If you show signs of curiosity, she will rant about random things until we got sick of it, and we ignore her, though I doubt she knew we are actually ignoring her."

Signs of curiosity… Does the meeting under the tree, when he questioned her with many questions, counts? Then those headache inducing rants were because he was curious of her secrets?

"I've made my decision to not enter you to the Training Camp and instead let Hange train you."

Silence, then, "That Moblit guy is her assistant, right?"

"Yes."

"Good, then Moblit would be handling me instead."


	26. Three Days of Training

Chapter 25

**Three Days of Training**

**_Day 1_**

"Leviii!"

Before Levi even sidestepped, he could feel a pair of arm wrapping his waist and a heavy impact on his back. Then the pair of hands proceeded to strip him off his 3DMG.

"You Shitty Four-Eyes! What the hell are you doing!" he growled in panic and annoyance as he tried to ward off her arms. But she kept on unbuckling the belts until the 3DMG came off.

Then as if a tornado passed by, she left with the 3DMG in hand while shouting, "I'll be modifying this! Moblit! Take care of his first day of training, okay?"

Levi looked at her retreating back. The hell just happened?

He looked at the auburn haired person who had been able to keep up with the Shitty Four-Eyes, Moblit, if he remembered the name correctly. He was carrying a different set of 3DMG in his hands, extending them to him.

"Wear them; I need to know how good you are with these. This 3DMG was modified to the fastest the Captain managed to modify. It was even faster than Captain's 3DMG, but Captain trusts that you will be able to handle the speed."

Levi nodded in understanding and followed Moblit to the forest training ground.

**(=w=)**

Moblit was awed, and pleased as he watched Captain's friend maneuvers around the forest in Captain's quickest 3DMG.

At first, Levi stumbled around the air, almost hitting the trees or missing the grapplers, but after a few minutes of adjusting to the speed, he was all around like a hummingbird!

Levi shot a grappler to his right to avoid the oncoming tree and shot another grappler to the left after he passed the tree, and then he let go of the grapplers as he turned in the air, going over a thick branch before he threw another grappler. After some more series of twists and turns, he finally landed on the ground with a brief roll.

What's more surprising was that he was doing it in the 3DMG's full speed.

Moblit nodded, Captain would be pleased, very pleased.

"Leviiii!"

Speak of the devil.

Captain came rushing in, a huge bag at hand, and tackled Levi who was still crouching on the ground. Then she unbuckled every 3DMG belts, like how she did earlier.

"The hell are you doing, Bitch!"

"Moblit, help me take the 3DMG off!"

Levi struggled to keep her as far away from him as possible. His hands were grabbing her approaching hands and his foot was pushing Hange away.

"Moblit! Come here this instance and hold him down!"

"Yes, Captain!"

And Moblit quickly approached the struggling duo, sending the black haired teen an apologetic glance before he did what was asked of him. He held Levi's arm down, using his superior strength, and Captain sat on Levi's legs, keeping them down. Levi kept sending him glares of betrayal as he struggled in the grip.

In Moblit's honest opinion, this looked too much like a gang rape for his own comfort. What's worse was that it made him looked like the gay one between the three.

Not that he have anything against gays. It's just that he don't want people to mistake him as a gay. Women will get away, and gay guys will approach him.

He shuddered in the thought.

Now, with Levi's four limbs held down, Captain was unbuckling the 3DMG belts whilst whistling a happy tune. When she was done, she took out a modified 3DMG from the bag, complete with Jigsaws installed, and buckled the belts to the still struggling, still cursing Levi.

When she was done, she patted her hands in a job well done and ordered, "Moblit, only let go when I asked you to."

Moblit nodded obediently.

Captain Hange immediately gets up from his legs, which immediately tried to kick her the moment they were free. Captain quickly jumped away. She took out a pair of the normal swords and went into a fighting position.

"Let go of him."

Moblit did, and he immediately went for Hange with a pair of normal swords out. They started sparring, Captain seems to be holding back as she dodged and blocked Levi's wild swipes, only throwing a thrust here and there. Levi's movements were rather… sloppy, probably it was because he was more used to guns and daggers than a pair of swords. Hange teased Levi mercilessly as Levi tried to land a good hit on her.

Moblit noted that, while Captain was mercilessly teasing Levi, she was actually fixing his movements with swords.

"Eh? Levi! Who the hell holds the sword that way? You are a pro at guns, right? There's a trigger in the handle for a reason Levi!"

"Levi! That hit earlier would be easily avoided! People don't just try to split the opponent's head in half from the above! All I need to do is sidestep and you will miss!"

"That kind of attack would take away the center of your gravity! Not good, not good!"

Levi just growled at her every comment, but Moblit noted dryly that Levi never repeats the same mistake twice.

That, and the fact that Captain seems to take joy in experiencing near deaths as she danced around Levi's sword. He needs to wonder just how Captain will be at the battle field against the Titans. On the 4 day span of being Captain's assistant, he had never once stepped out from the Walls for expeditions since the Survey Corps were still busy recovering from the fall of Wall Maria.

He hoped it was not too… heart stopping.

The day ended with a frustrated Levi trying to mince Hange as Hange skillfully dodged them, throwing another comment on what's wrong with his attacks.

**_Day 2_**

The Captain brought Levi to the Titan Killing Stimulation in the forest. She ordered a few of her Squad Members to help them pull the fake Titans around. What's surprising in Moblit's opinion was that Captain was cursing so much today.

"Get those fucking fake Titans to move! Levi, remember, the back of the neck! Cut the back of the neck! If possible, cut those woods to splinters unidentified be eyes!"

Levi just snorted as he shot away. Moblit stood by Hange's side, wondering if the Captain had a past with those Fake Titans, so he wondered out loud, to which Hange answered.

"Those fucking Titans took away my share of favorite foods for two days! Of course I'll hate them! Those two days were one of my more painful days! Same goes to Instructor Johnson! And I thought he was a pretty decent guy! Good thing Erwin graduated me early! Or else I would have suffered for the whole week!"

Moblit kept silent as he listened to the Captain's rants. His eyes observed the new Military member as he shot around cutting the Fake Titan's back of neck. His cuts were still sloppy, but if Levi is improving like yesterday's sword trainings, he would be on a standard military level by the end of the day. Captain had also started observing Levi, throwing in insults like a broken dam.

"Levi! If that's a real Titan, the blood would have sprayed all over you! You don't want that do you, huh? Make a clean cut, damn it!"

"The Titan would have grabbed you and eaten you if you shot a grappler there!"

"The Titan's hand would have swatted you like a fly if you go to the Titan's field of vision like that!"

Even from under here, Moblit could feel the intent to kill from Levi.

"Levi! Try to mix that flexibility and speed you have on the ground with the 3DMG! Change your battle style! That's too stiff for you!"

Even though Levi seems like he was ignoring Hange, he tried to twist and turn the way he did when he was fighting on the ground. Mixed with the full brunt of Hange's modified 3DMG speed, all Moblit could see was just occasional glint of the sword as they rotate around the Fake Titan.

And is it weird that when his Captain challenged Levi into a spar with 3DMG, it was no longer surprising for Moblit?

Must be her insanity catching up.

Captain won, but she said that the reason was because she was more used in air battles and that in a few months time, Levi would be able to beat her to the ground.

**_Day 3_**

Moblit had brought Levi for training, but the after waiting for almost 2 hours and the Captain still hadn't shown up, Moblit got worried and dragged a pissed off Levi to Captain's room.

He knocked on Captain's door, and was answered with muffles of "get away" and "I need my sleep".

"Captain? Isn't today Levi's last day of training? We had been waiting for you."

"Wha?" Captain's sleepy voice was heard.

"Oi! Shitty Four-Eyes! Get moving!"

The person behind the doors just whined, "But I don't want to! Your schedule for today's training is to _rest_ and _sleep_!"

"Oi! Bitch! We don't have time to waste!"

Another whine was heard, "But I don't have sleep to waste! There will rarely be any sleep during expeditions! I'll save as much sleep as I could! Go back to bed! You too, Moblit!"

"You," Levi kicked the door, "Shitty," another kick, "Bitch!" another kick, and the door hinge broke open. Levi stride towards the bed and picked the girl in her sleeping gown up by her neck. "I wasted my time waiting for you!"

Hange just groaned before she pulled Levi to her bed and hugged him like one would hug a teddy bear.

Now Moblit felt like he was intruding a private moment.

"You Shitty Four-Eyes!"

"Go to bed, before I force you to."

"You! I told you I wasted 2 hours waiting for you!"

"Hmn…"

Before Levi could say anything more, he could feel a faint stinging pain on his neck before everything turned black for him. Hange just rolled off him, and Moblit could see there was a small syringe in her hand. She kicked Levi off her bed and Levi fell with a dull thump. Then she turned to Moblit. Moblit gulped in fear.

"Moblit, this is an order," Captain said with a new syringe filled of clear liquid pointing at him, "Fix the door, get Levi to his room, and go to bed. If you can't sleep, I'll drug you like I did Levi, understand?"

Moblit nodded frantically. Satisfied with the answer, Captain just slumped back to her bed and curled like a kitten.

As Moblit took out a screwdriver from his pocket and started fixing the door hinge, he felt that, in this last three days as he accompanied Captain to train Levi, he knew so much more about his captain.

Like the extent of her infatuation with Levi, her happy go lucky ways even when someone was trying to kill her, her dislike towards the Fake Titans and, most important of all.

How Captain _loathed_ to be woken up when she wants to sleep.


	27. The Start of First

Chapter 26

**The Start of First**

They haven't even left for the First Expedition to seize back Wall Maria, and yet Erwin was feeling a heavy headache brewing. And the reason?

There was just one reason, but there are two people who are at fault.

Levi and Hange.

He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration as Levi and Hange threw insults at one another, the way a group of children would squabble about.

"You are the one at fault here, Shitty Four-Eyes," Levi growled.

"Hmph!" She stated angrily, "No am not! You are the one who walked in on me, Stupid!"

"Tch! It was because you didn't inform me before hand, Bitch!"

Erwin retracted his words. They are not arguing like children, they are arguing like a _married_ couple.

Hange, he could understand, because he knew her brain was somehow damaged in some ways.

But Levi? He couldn't believe it. Just when he thought he found someone who can possibly lead the Survey Corps after him, he went down and did something like quarreling. He remembered the events earlier in the morning.

_"You drugged me! Shitty Four-Eyes!"_

_"Huh?"_

_"And I had somehow gotten a fucking bump on the back of my head!"_

_"Wha?"_

_"And it was your entire fault!"_

_"No it's not! You are the one who woke me up!"_

_"Do you actually need to fucking drug me?"_

_"You won't sleep!"_

_"Is that even a reason? I'm not a damnable toddler!"_

Just what the heck happened on the training? Erwin has to wonder how the word 'training' has any connection to the word 'drug' and 'sleep'.

"Moblit! Come here!"

Moblit immediately quicken the pace of his horse to Erwin who was now leading the troops to the Gate of Wall Rose. When Moblit matched his pace, Erwin was about to ask Moblit when Moblit cut off.

"Captain drugged Levi to make him rest."

"Ah," Erwin remembered, "she does have a habit of sleeping the whole day off before an expedition after her first few expeditions."

Moblit nodded.

"Go back to Hange. We can't have the both of them killing each other in the first expedition."

Moblit nodded once again as he returned to Hange's side, trying to tone down Hange's and Levi's arguments.

"Attention!" Erwin shouted when they reached the Gate. The whole troops quieted down.

"In 40 seconds, we will begin our First Expedition to Wall Maria!" Erwin shouted as the gate started creaking open, "We have 3 objectives! To know more about the Titans! To secure checkpoints in Wall Maria! Lastly, to try a new formation that was briefed yesterday!"

The Gate clanked loudly, a sign that it has been completely opened.

"The First Expedition to reclaim Wall Maria begins now!"

And the horses immediately started running, bringing them into the enemy's territory.

**(*w*)**

Moblit was completely awerrified by the Titans and his Captain.

Captains were placed in the innermost of the formation in Commander's explanation, but he was in the group on the outermost right wing because Captain requested her group to be placed there.

He was horrified with the Titans, yes. He saw some of his friends eaten by them while he froze by the horrific sight of _them_ devouring humans.

Levi had also frozen at the sight, but after a moment, he found his limbs and started attacking the Titan.

He was also extremely horrified with his Captain, and at the same time, extremely awed.

All the soldiers need to tag teamed with another person to take down a Titan in an open field, at least one person attacking the ankles, and another person aiming for the neck when they fall, even Levi who hated working in teams worked together with someone else. But his Captain only made use of her grapplers and 3DMGs and swords to get up a Titan's body to its neck.

At least, that was what he thought. Instead, his Captain went to the Titan's lips and _kissed_ it. The Titan then aimed a fist to his face.

"Captain!" Moblit shouted to warn his Captain. But Hange just swiftly avoided the oncoming fist. She then landed a clean cut to the Titan's neck. Before the Titan even fall, she shot a grappler to the next Titan and proceeds to _ride_ on its head like a horse.

And the Titan didn't even realize that.

"Shitty Bitch! Just kill it already!" Levi shouted from the ground.

"Nuh-uh, Levi!" She said cheerfully, "This Titan is too cute to die!"

Is there even such thing as a cute Titan?

Then Moblit remembered Commander Erwin's word the night he became Hange's assistant.

_"Also, on the battle field, ignore whatever she did as much as possible."_

Is this what Commander mean by it?

The Titan seems like it just realized that there was a person on its head and shook the head frantically. Hange hold on to the Titan's hair tightly as her body was sent flying in every direction. Instead of screaming their lungs out like any other sane person would, she squealed, _happily_.

"Weeee! See? This Titan is too cute and loveable to dieeee!"

That time, Moblit decided to get out off his stupor and start his action. With a war cry, he shot a grappler towards the Titan and pulled himself up with the help of his 3DMG. He maneuvered around its arms, silently grateful that its attention is on Captain, and landed on the back of the neck, before cutting a huge chunk of its flesh.

His first Titan Kill.

The Titan started to fall and he holds on tightly to the skin, but it was wet with blood, and his gripped started to loosen as he fell with the Titan. He shut his eyes tightly, in fear of the pain of falling.

But after a moment, when he didn't feel the pain, he opened his eyes. He saw that his captain was holding his hands tightly from her position on the Titan's head.

That day too, he swore, in his heart, that even when she is a crazy Titan lover, even if she is the weirdest person, his complete loyalty belongs only to Captain Hange Zoe and only her.


	28. Secret Out

**A/N:**

**Actualy, when I looked at Moblit in the anime, he is rather Hufflepuff-ish, So I pictured him that way.**

**And I've truly (with all my heart and brain capabilities) been trying to make the chapters longer. It was only 800 words/chaps before, and now it reached about 1400 words/chaps without A/Ns.**

**And hmmm... I suppose she is rather Sue-ish. Though I imagine an inventor working on a military as clever and knows at least a little fighting skills...**

**I'll try to fix that...**

**Anyways, enjoy :)**

Chapter 27

**Secret Out**

Erwin went out of the tent. They had secured a checkpoint near a forest, and the soldiers where resting while some of the others kept watch. If he remembered correctly, the first night watch in the east area is Hange alone.

He walked towards the east area.

He had noticed that Moblit was a little different after reaching the check point. He knew that after seeing the deaths of comrades, one would get even wearier. But other than the streak of weariness, Erwin noticed another thing. It was not fear. It was a whole different thing, a fire of some sort.

It was determination.

When asked what happened, Moblit's only answer is…

_"Captain Hange saved my life, so this life belongs to Captain. I will serve her, and if she so wishes it, I'll die for her."_

It was a determination flared by the wish to thank his savior, a true loyalty.

And Moblit had brought his job as an assistant into another level. Whilst days before, he didn't seem to show any interest in any of Hange's inventions, he seems to thoroughly study her notes this night. Just tonight, Moblit had started serving her food himself, preparing her tools himself and even massaged her back himself!

It was no longer the job of an assistant. It's a servant's job!

That's when Erwin realized one other thing about Hange.

When Erwin reached the east area, he saw Hange leaning on the crate, looking up at the stars. Hange noticed his presence right away, but she kept her eyes up, only asking.

"What's wrong, Erwin?"

That's when Erwin gritted his teeth and growled, "You have been manipulating us since the beginning, haven't you?"

Hange's brown orbs looked at Erwin's blue ones in shock.

"What made you think that? There's no way I could manipulate you all!"

Erwin narrowed his eyes, "You chose Moblit and Levi to be in your team and asked if you could be in the outermost right wing despite being able to stay at the near centre, using your love for Titans as an excuse. You made Moblit and Levi see the deaths in the hands of Titans. And you saved Moblit's life and gained his pure loyalty. You seem to know that Moblit would be a good assistant since the beginning. As for Levi, it seems that you know that he would be one of the stronger soldiers of the whole military. And it seems that you knew it since the time you gave him that 3DMG."

Silence, as the wind blew and the trees rustled.

"There's no way I could know all that, Erwin. It was like knowing the future. And no one knows the future."

Erwin clicked his tongue in annoyance. "On the first expedition you have, you hinted me about a formation that can be used to detect Titans from afar when you are surely capable of making the formation by yourself! The formation that was on the testing period now! It was like you want me to make it without actually asking me! And the day Wall Maria was attacked, you seems so nervous as if you know what's going to happen."

"I was just voicing my thoughts."

"Then explain to me how you can make all those complicated machineries! Machineries that were clearly too complicated in this era. In the future, yes, but not now. You can clearly create even more complicated stuff if you have the tools required. And you clearly didn't learn it from anybody here, Hange."

"I learned it myself," Hange said as she rubbed her chest, where her heart should be.

"Then explain to me why you are rubbing your left chest. It was like there was a scar there, but I'm sure you never got any fatal wounds to the heart, or else you would be dead by now."

"Eh?" Hange froze, "I'm rubbing… a scar?"

"Seems like it."

Hange stared at her hands in a horrific fascination, "I didn't even realize I had been doing it."

"You don't, I do," said Erwin as he sat on the crate not far away from Hange.

"Guess I can't convince you the other way now, can I?"

"You can't. I'm pretty sure you know the future, or at least parts of it."

"Geez, Erwin, you need to give this poor woman a chance to breathe. I don't even think that my death would cause mental trauma!"

"You died once?"

"Hmm… At least, I thought I did. A shot through the heart in an assassination attempt, not much," she flapped her hand flippantly.

"You seem pretty dismissive about your death."

"Dying once will make you."

"No wonder you just hugged a Titan without care of your life. Though, I had to wonder how come you are not scared of the Titans."

"I'm curious, really, since in my first life, there was nothing like a Titan. It was all only words in a book, at least until I came here."

"A book," Erwin stated, "We are all part of a book. So you know the future through the book."

"It's a book which doesn't have an ending yet, to be more precise. All I know is the beginning, no important information about the Titans or the true enemy."

"Do you actually come from the future?"

Hange blinked. "I might come from the future, where Titans are extinct, or maybe the past, where humans are finding ways to be Titans, or I might even come from an entirely different world. Or maybe it was all a hallucination I believed in."

"Is that so…"

"Aren't you curious? About the future?"

"I am," said Erwin, "But I trust if there is anything too dangerous, you will make some change if possible. It is dangerous to play with time, after all."

"All the dangers in the future would be required," Hange stated sadly, "Even if I want to and even if I am able to, all the dangers will let us find something important that I might not know, so I can't actually change the future freely. But I can make some minor changes, improving the weapons, finding counterattacks against the Titans; keep the survival rate as high as possible."

"You made people think you are weird, so you can get away with doing things with weird or vague reasons."

A brown eyebrow was raised questioningly, "Aren't I naturally weird?"

Erwin scoffed. "'Levi is cute, so I'll be his friend', while in actual you knew Levi is a loner with foul mouth. Not many people would want to be with him, so you latched to him like a monkey and annoy him to death. 'I love Titan's so much and I'll hug as many Titans as possible', while in actual, you are trying on different ways to kill Titans or gain any other information. 'My inventions are my babies who I will protect with my life', while in actual, you don't want your inventions to fall into the wrong hands."

"Uwaah! Erwin! You made me seem weirder than I actually am! How did you know, anyways?"

"If I know you are capable of manipulating us like puppets, I can also deduce these small things. Just... tone down your acts."

"Hiks, you made me seem like the bad guy here."

Erwin ignored her as he stood up and dusted himself. "I trust that when the time comes, you would do what you think will be the best."

"Of course," said Hange as she watched Erwin walked away. "That's what I've always been doing. Oh, and Erwin?"

Erwin stopped walking.

"Since you know about my bits of knowledge of the future, I don't have to worry about you knowing my secret, and I have been itching for revenge since the second day we met, so…" Hange said with a mischievous smirk etched on her face.

"So what."

"_So_," Hange drawled, her smile became even wider, "I'll be going about tricking you with pranks every possible moment I have."

Erwin narrowed his eyes on her, but he continued to walk away after waving her warning off.

It's not like she is able to do it.

Right?


	29. Deviants

Chapter 28

**Deviants**

The first expedition, if Erwin had to say, was rather successful. They secured 2 checkpoints, and the formation he had been making was a success. The lost of the man had been reduced from 90 percent to 40 percent, a huge difference.

Same goes to the second. In the Second Expedition, Hange had requested her group to be placed in the near center for this expedition from her position in the outermost right wing, because she had shown both Levi and Moblit the cruelness of a Titan. It would have ended better, if _only_ Hange hadn't been spiking his stock of coffee with alcohols.

Good thing he knew all too well what alcohols smelled like, so he managed to avoid drinking.

But still, that's a waste of his coffee.

But the Third Expedition to Wall Maria can't be any worse than this.

The right wing had been safe, with at most 3 deaths right now.

But the left wing is another different story.

Erwin could see there are 6 Titans in the far distance on the left as they rode on their horse. It was either that the Titans had somehow gotten past the left wing or the whole left wing had been annihilated.

Mike Zacharius immediately flung into action, shooting grapplers and using his 3DMG to get into the Titan's neck, like Hange would. But unlike Hange who used her speed and flexibility, Mike used his swords to get a stable landing as he climbed up the 12m class Titan's body. But the Titan ignored him and continued on running.

It was a Deviant.

Mike cut away a huge chunk from the back of the neck and before the Titan fell, he shot his grappler to a 7m class Titan. And despite the Titan clearly knowing there was a human on its head, it continued running.

It was another Deviant.

Erwin observed the other soldiers tag-teaming against the other Titans, who were also ignoring them in preference of running towards the centre.

Erwin narrowed his eyes.

It couldn't be coincidence for 6 Deviant Titans to attack at the same time, unless there was something that attracted them. The left wing should also be safe, since the Deviants should have ignored them.

"Ugh! Commander! Incoming Titans from the right! Deviants since they are ignoring the soldiers!"

Erwin's eyes darted to the right. True enough, there are 5 Titans who kept on running towards the centre, ignoring the soldiers. Just what attracts them here?

Hange's group is in the centre right. She, Levi and Moblit should be able to handle them.

When the Titans came closer, the team quickly sprang into action, with Hange and Levi climbing up the Titan's body and Moblit supporting the both of them from the ground.

Levi managed to cut off a chunk from the back of the neck and managed to send his grapplers to another Titan.

But Hange…

The Titan she attacked tried to swap her with its hand. She was swatted away, and another Titan grabbed on her as she fell. She struggled and managed to get her hands on her Jigsaws and cut the huge fingers. She was about to shoot a grappler to a Titan when her hand was grabbed by the previous Titan and she was forcefully suspended in the air.

Using her other hand, she threw something into the Titan's opening mouth and the Titan's head exploded. She slipped from the Titan's grip and fell to the ground as she tried and failed to twist her body to form a suitable landing position. Moblit, who had been on the ground, hurried his horse under her and caught her while Levi tried to ward off the other Titans reaching for Hange.

So the Deviants are attracted to Hange.

"Erwin! A Deviant running on your direction!" Mike shouted from his left.

Erwin stored the thoughts to the back of his mind and focused on the Titans coming near him. He shot off his horse and sent a grappler to the Titan's body. He swung around, pulling himself up and up until he finally reached the Titan's neck and cut it. He used his grapplers to stay still on the Titan's neck as it fell and quickly get back to his horse.

Erwin looked on Mike's side. The Titans on his side had been completely annihilated. The Titan's decomposing corpses were sending out steam like any other would.

On his right side, however, Hange's team was still fighting against the Titans, with Hange crying aloud as she rode on the horse and the Titans chasing her. With the Titan's current speed, Levi was forced to working together with Moblit, with Moblit cutting the ankles and Levi aiming for the neck.

Erwin believed that those three should be able to handle the remaining Titan, so he was planning on leaving them be and watch the whole ordeal.

_Unfortunately_, Hange was running into _his_ direction, with the Titan in hot on its heels.

So after she ran past him, and the Titan's huge foot landed right next to him, he took this chance send a deep cut to the Titan's ankle. The Titan fell, and Levi, who had been chasing the Titan, immediately went for the neck.

"Alright!" Erwin shouted, "Soldiers, go back to the formations! Any detailed report will be given when we found a resting spot!"

**(-w-)**

"We had been handling the Deviants, but some of them kept on running to the centre, sir."

"Same goes to the right wing, sir. The Titan's managed to run past us. We had been handling 4 Deviants, sir."

"Is that so, then dismissed. Hange, you stay."

The two soldiers, who looked like they were on the verge of dying of fear, immediately shot out the door and closed the door. Erwin turned to Hange.

"So, it seems you attracted those Deviants."

"I do, even though normal Titans can't detect me without eyesight and hearing, the Deviant seem to know where I am without any sights or hearings."

"Now I'd like a report from your battle."

"Uh…" Hange tried to recall the earlier events, "I attacked a Titan, got smacked by its hand, grabbed by another Titan, used jigsaw to cut away, get caught by another Titan, exploded the Titan's head, I fell, Moblit caught me but I sprained my leg, Levi attacked the Titans, Moblit placed me on my horse since I can't battle, but the Titan's kept on chasing me, so I ran around while Moblit and Levi killed the Titans. That's about it."

Erwin sighed, "Your report seems too childish. Connectors were created for a reason."

"At least you understood."

It was silent for a moment, before Erwin asked, "Do you think the Deviant's attraction to you might be connected to having a second life?"

"Hmmm…" Hange hummed in thought, "depends on what the Titan use to sense humans, actually. I'm not even sure myself."

"Titans had always been able to sense the general area of the closest human, but Deviants had always preferred a large crowd and ignored the lesser numbers." Erwin told her from his experience, "If Titans actually detects human life force to find the general location of a human before using its eyes and hearings for the exact location, it might make sense. You being reborn must have muted your life force, so normal Titans can't detect you without sight or hearing. But Deviants might be able to detect you because they thought the signal you gave out is special."

"Argh…" Hange groaned, "So all the raise of percentage of Deviant Titans attacking during expeditions had been because of me."

Erwin hummed as his fingers rested on his chin in thought. "Actually," he started, "you should be happy that you might be able to save more life."

"Huh?"

"If you can distract the Deviants, we don't have to worry about them. All we need to do is attack them as they ran after you."

"So…"

"I was thinking of a formation where you can distract the Deviants while all the others would be able to kill the Deviants easily. Be good bait, Hange."

"So," Hange groaned, "I'm pretty much a dead meat."

"Not really, I'm sure you live like a cockroach, you won't die even when the Titan stomps on you; maybe even get yourself reborn somewhere else."

"Uwaaah! I really am a dead meat, am I?"

Erwin just shrugged his shoulders as he dismissed her.

It was revenge, since she _did_ spike his coffee with those damnable alcohols after all.

There are just… reasons why he… avoided alcohols like plaque.

And he won't be letting Hange find out anytime soon.

One Nile Dok is already enough to handle.


	30. Not Me

Chapter 29

**Not Me**

I swore. It has only been one day since Erwin's idea of me Deviant Baiting, and I am already in deep shit!

"Eeeep! Damn you, Erwin! You cruel, cruel man!"

I shouted as I rode my horse through the forest, a series of foul curses coming out of my mouth. I nudged my horse so that it will go faster, to avoid whatever behind me.

And those things chasing me happened to be Deviants.

And there was a whole bunch of them, about 10.

And they were all hot on their heels! And Deviants are all way quicker and smarter than the usual Titans! There was no way my horse could hold this speed for 15 minutes!

"Argh! Erwin, you asshole!"

I shot my grappler to the trees and pulled myself up, leaving my poor horse on the ground. The Titans followed me as I weaved around the trees. I would've rested quietly on top of a branch so that the Titans would not reach me, but no, it's impossible.

Because I just have to attract two Deviants with monkey powers!

"Damn you!" I shouted as I swung down a branch. "I'm supposed to be hugging and kissing Titans! Not being chased by them!"

Then, from the trees, I saw a green smoke shooting up in a distance.

I scoffed. It _is_ about time they are done.

I whistled to my horse, and the horse immediately ran towards me, but instead of sitting on its back, I kept on using the 3DMG to go near the source of the smoke, my horse following me on the ground.

Good thing Mike trained my horse, or else I would have no horse to ride at this point.

As I swung around, I prepared my flare gun and shot a red smoke up the sky, the 'it's-an emergency-so-help-me-right-now!' smoke. Then I continued circling the area, Titans still chasing me.

Then a green blur pass by me, going straight into the fray.

Finally!

I landed on a branch, wincing a little when I felt my left leg protesting in pain, but I ignored it in favor of turning around. I saw Levi, slaughtering one of the Deviants as they tried to follow me. I smiled as I watched him twist and turn in the air, feeling more safe and relaxed now that enforcement for me has arrived.

That is, until one of the monkey Deviants slammed to the tree which branch I'm resting on.

"Eeeeeep!"

I shot out to the other direction. There was just no way am I fighting a Deviant aiming to kill me with a sprained leg.

No damn way.

As the monkey Deviant and the rest of the Deviants followed me, I twisted and turned in the air, shooting my grapplers in the direction where Levi came from. Sure enough, there were two other people following Levi.

"Moblit! Snuffles!" I called in happiness to the two men. "Save me!"

"Captain!" called the sandy haired man. The other sandy haired man just sniffed at the air as his eyebrow twitched at the name 'Snuffles'.

"About 10 Deviants at the back!" I shouted in warning, "Levi's already on it! And my leg is killing me!"

"Yes Captain!" Moblit answered, and then he faced Snuffles, "Captain Mike! I'll take the ones in the left!"

Snuffles just nodded as he sniffed at the air, before he said, "Only three Deviants, Hange."

"Eh? But all of them are chasing me!"

"Titans will be attracted to human's screams, Hange," he deadpanned. "You have been screaming your hearts out since the beginning of your first mission as Deviant Bait."

Now that I think back, the only Titans with more than average cleverness were the two monkey Deviants and the 7 m class that can't reach me.

I laughed sheepishly.

"Ehehe… I don't care! Just save me! Eeeeep!"

Just as I finished my statement, said 7m class Deviant slammed its foot to the ground near me, causing me to screech. I shoot my grappler to the trees again before the Deviant could place its grubby hands on me.

Snuffles immediately shot up, using his swords as a leverage to pull himself up the Titan's body as the Deviant kept trying to aim for me. When he reached its neck, he slashed out the flesh. The Titan slowly fell down.

Snuffles sniffed again.

"This is the last one," he said.

"Really?"

He nodded. "It seems Levi and Moblit took care of them."

**(0o0)**

Mike scowled as he entered the foul smelling room which was labeled as Hange's Laboratory.

He sniffed at the air, and almost gagged at the scent. He used his hand to cover his nose from whatever stench inside the room and opened the door.

Just what did Hange do inside the lab?

"Hange, this room is damn filthy," said Levi who was lounging on a desk far from Hange with Commander Erwin.

"Un! It is the cleanest! There's no dust, no dirt! Those are only the explosion marks, Levi!" said Hange from her other corner as she add something to whatever glob of green that was on her experimental table, said glob started fizzing furiously, "Whooaa!"

"Careful, Captain! In your notes, you wrote that you need to add the iron solution first drop by drop or it will explode!"

"I know, Moblit. Mr. Clean Freak just distracted me!" she said as she pointed at Levi furiously. Her actions caused the flask she was holding in her hand to tilt and whatever liquid in it started cascading to the green blob. The blob started fizzing even more furiously, but Hange didn't notice as she glared at the clean freak.

Moblit, who noticed this, warned his captain in panic.

"Captain! The flask!"

**BOOM!**

There was a small explosion from the green blob, and the room was covered with puffs of smoke. Mike tightened his hold on his nose, thinking that there will be an additional scorch mark to the Survey Corps HQ. He could hear the furious coughing of Hange and Moblit's worried voice.

"You made me _filthy_."

"Cough! Hak! And it's your damn fault for distracting me!"

"How was it my fault? Aren't you the one distracted?"

"It is your fault! It was such an important piece of experiment too!"

As the two bantered, Mike could hear Erwin sigh.

As the smoke was dispersed, Mike could once more see the four figures. Still pinching his nose, he walked over to Erwin's side. Erwin noticed Mike's presence and immediately called for the attention of the two bantering.

"Why are we here for a meeting instead of your office, Erwin?"

"Hange needed to check one of her chemicals. That's why."

Mike nodded in understanding. An explosion was not a good thing after all, since it concerns Hange.

"Now that we are all here," Erwin started, "I'd like to talk about the Deviant Diversion Plan."

All inside the room nodded in understanding.

"It has been a success, so we will make this plan official."

Hange groaned, "Erwin, if it's official, how could I even hug and kiss anymore Titans? The Deviants would hog me to themselves!"

Erwin just ignored her. "But there are still many things we could improve in this plan. Like the time limit. The Bait could only divert the Deviants for only a few minutes, the time wouldn't be enough to finish off the Normal Titans."

"Captain Hange's leg was sprained, sir," said Moblit, "she should be able to hold off a little longer."

"Even if her leg was not sprained," Levi said, "she still won't be able to stall for long since her stamina is fucking bad."

An indignant 'hey!' came out of Hange's mouth. Mike just nodded in agreement to Levi. He did recall the rest stops she slipped in every battle they had together for the past year.

"Then Hange, we will ask someone to train you to improve your stamina."

Hange groaned. "I'm a soldier scientist hybrid. Not a bait powerhouse!"

"Levi, take charge of her training," commanded Erwin as he looked at Levi before turning to face Moblit, "and Moblit, make sure she doesn't run away."

Both of them nodded. Hange hissed the word 'traitors' under her breath. Moblit kept his poker face while Levi smirked victoriously as he thought of ways to torture Hange with training.

"And Mike, if in any case Hange managed to run away, you will track her," said Erwin.

Mike nodded.

"What?" Hange whined, "Not you too, Snuffles! You guys are ganging up on me!"

"And Hange," Erwin turned to Hange, "If you attempted to run away or any of them was found in any unfit condition, no coffee, milk, sugar, or chocolate."

Hange whimpered pitifully.

"Good. Now to the next weakness…"

"Wait a moment," said Hange, "Moblit, make a pot of coffee for us, this might take too long."

Moblit nodded obediently as he stood up and went to the cupboards.

Levi scowled, "Why coffee? Tea is better."

"It's because a scientist like me needs to keep thinking, Levi."

Levi growled in annoyance, "Moblit," Levi called to the assistant, "Don't make me a coffee."

Moblit nodded.

Erwin started once again. "Should we send someone with Hange or should she just be the Bait alone?"

"Alone." Mike said.

Levi nodded in agreement. "If someone tagged along with her, she would also be targets to more Normal Titans."

"True, but she also needs protection from the Deviants chasing her."

"Just make me the Bait alone," Hange said, "So long as you let me rest once in a while, I'll be able to avoid the Deviants."

Erwin nodded stiffly, "That's why take Levi's training in the future seriously."

Hange groaned. Moblit was back to the desk, carrying a tray of cups filled with coffee. He placed each one in front of each person excluding Levi. Mike's nose twitched, feeling that there is something else in the coffee, but couldn't place his fingers on what it was.

"Lastly, Hange," Erwin said as he took his cup of coffee, "Refrain from shouting during the chase. It attracts Titans, Normal and Deviants alike."

Erwin sipped his coffee.

Hange took her coffee and sipped it. Her cheeks became flushed and her words became slurry.

"Moblit," she slurred, Moblit perked up, "Coffee is in the white jar. The jar labeled coffee is coffee mixed with alcoholic powders and a cup of it could put a grown bull to sleep in minutes. Good thing I don't have low alcohol tolerance or else I would be knocked out with one sip. Next time, remember, okay?"

Moblit nodded. And Mike nodded as he sniffed the coffee again. This time, he took a sip.

**THUMP!**

All eyes turned to source of the sound, only to find Erwin slumped down on the desk, coffee splayed over the table.

Mike and Levi sent an accusing glare Hange's way.

"What?" Hange shouted indignantly.

"You've been trying to spike Erwin's drink these past few days," said Mike.

Hange raised her hands in a peace motion. "I am not the one drugging – hic! – Erwin this time! It's Moblit!"

"But Moblit can't refuse you if you ordered."

"I really didn't!"

Moblit just whistled innocently.


	31. Demon

**A/N : Sorry guys… later updates than usual… I have a bomb of homework to be done… and some university tests…**

**Anyways... thanks to maplecat for pointing out a mistake! I really didn't even realize I switched judo and aikido...**

Chapter 30

**Demon**

"Hange."

"Yes, Levi?" I inquired from behind my note book. Erwin had taken some members of the Survey Corps to the Trainee Camp. Though I had to wonder for what…

"You screamed again in the Seventh Expedition to Wall Maria."

"I can't help it!" I whined, "Try getting yourself some monkey Deviants to chase you! They are damn quick!"

Levi snorted.

"Oh right! Because you can easily kill them, can you?"

A smirk was painted on Levi's face, and I can feel the horror creeping up my back.

"Oh no! You are not stepping up my training anymore!"

The sound of sword unsheathing could be heard, and out comes Levi's pair of Jigsaw.

"Oh no, Levi, you are not using _that_," I pointed at the Jigsaws fearfully, "to me."

"Under what rule?" Levi retorted back.

"Under my rule! That's my invention you are using against me!"

Then the Jigsaws started buzzing, and color drained from my face. Before Levi could even say another word, I darted into the forest nearby, using my 3DMG as efficient as possible to get _as far away as possible from the demon_.

"You Shorty Clean Freak!" I shouted as I passed the trees, Levi following closely behind. "I regret the day I gave you my Jigsaws!"

I could feel his irritation in waves from my back at the mention of 'Shorty'. I looked back to check the distance between us and I screamed in horror.

Because Levi's closing the distance between us real quick!

"Gyaaaa! A demon's on me back! A demon's on me back!"

I released my Smoke Pac-mans to my back, and thick smoke puffs out. Levi's coughs were heard, making me smirk in satisfaction, before I heard Levi's next statement.

"You made me filthy," he spat the last word.

Did I just make him even more pissed than he was?

I looked back once more, only to see a larger demon reincarnate chasing my back.

"Meeeeep!" I made a sharp turn to the right, where I am sure the forest ends. I swung up high as I passed the last of the trees.

The sunlight blinded me for a while before I regained my sight and I saw salvation on the ground, near the spot I was going to land on.

"Snuffles!"

Snuffles, having heard my call, turned up to face me, only for his eyes to widen for a fraction, which, for Mike, is on the same level as panic.

I wondered what was wrong with me being up here, only to realize that it _is_ wrong for me to be up here.

Because humans just don't fly.

And without any trees at my grappler range, I am as good as dead.

Snuffles immediately ran to my landing spot and extended his arm, catching me safely. I quickly jumped away and pushed Snuffles into the demon's direction.

Said demon just came out from the trees.

"Mike! Thank you for saving me! Mind stalling some time for me?" I asked, but I did not wait for his answer and shouted a 'thank you' as I ran away.

"Make way! Make way!" I shouted to the people, swiftly turning and twisting to pass them. I was busy on avoiding when I saw another salvation.

"Erwin!" I shouted as I pounced on him and hugged him. Erwin was at lost on what to do with me. I looked up to his face from my position and said seriously.

"Erwin, I am one of humanity's greatest asset, am I not?"

"Yes," he answered slowly, "you are one of humanity's greatest assets."

"And I'm irreplaceable, am I not?" I asked again, still hugging him.

"Yes you are," he answered, seemingly to grow even more suspicious by the moments.

"Then!" I started, "Will you save me from my death by a demon?"

Erwin raised a questioning eyebrow. "Demon?"

And the demon chose that time to make his appearance.

"You Shitty Four-Eyed Bitch!"

I squeaked loudly. I immediately turned to Erwin's back and hold Erwin to his place, Erwin's tall figure perfectly hiding my still small body. I peeked meekly from his side.

The demon was there, and Snuffles was following him closely.

"Get your asses here," said the demon, "_Now_."

"Nuh-uh!" I shook my head furiously. "I am not getting out of my shield to die by your hands!"

Erwin growled in annoyance, "So, I'm just a convenient meat shield, Hange?"

But I ignored him in favor of warding the demon marching to me. Levi went to Erwin's right side, and I pulled Erwin so that I am avoiding Levi while still behind Erwin. When Levi went to Erwin's left side, I pulled Erwin to face the other side.

Levi growled in annoyance.

He started chasing me, and I let go of Erwin to run around Erwin, avoiding the demon out for blood.

It was really intimidating. An angry Levi with a pair of buzzing Jigsaw in his hand.

And Erwin, being the center of our orbit, growled irately.

"You are 15 years old! Not brats!"

In between my breath, I managed to squeeze out a short answer. "Levi's 15, I am still 14, going 15 in few weeks!"

"That's not what I mean! Both of you are embarrassing yourselves and the Survey Corps!"

"Eh?" I questioned, pausing slightly from my run.

And Levi still has the guts to pull me by my poor ponytail causing me to smack my back to the ground. Levi raised his foot, intending to step me by my face. Thank goodness I managed to move my head on time. I immediately rolled away from Levi and stood up, but before I could continue my run, Levi sent me a high spin kick.

I ducked down. My eyes quickly searched for an open tender spot in the reach of my hands, which happens to be the side of Levi's abdomen. I strengthened my fingers and sent a jab aiming for the abdomen's side, but Levi now knew my fighting style well, and he knew the spots I like to aim, so he lowered his arm, blocking my attack.

The next few moments were wasted on me trying to attack and defend for the sake of running and Levi attacking and blocking my jabs.

And it was sad to say that I, who introduced Levi to martial arts, was actually the one losing badly in this battle.

As I avoided Levi's kicks, I was thinking that since Levi knew my fighting style well, how about I switch my style a moment and throw Levi of the course?

So I changed my stance, from a fluid and light stance into the firm stance taught in the military similar to aikido. I grabbed the collar of Levi's shirt, ignoring his questioning eyebrow, and tried to flip him over my back.

But of course, everything had to go wrong, because I forgot two important things.

One, which was that I don't have enough strength to do so, and need I tell you that Levi is heavier than he looks? Currently, with the height of 155cm, his weight is 57kg, heavier than me! How could I hope to carry him? More so, _flip_ him _over_?

Secondly, I forgot Levi is faster than me, so when I tried to throw him off the ground, he took his chance and grabbed my hand, twisting it so that my arm is painfully behind my back.

And thankfully, Levi had forgotten, after one and a half year of separation, that I am pretty slippery in holds, so when Levi twisted my arm to my back, I banged my head to the back, effectively hitting Levi's forehead.

Thank goodness that Levi is short, or else he will keep me in a painful arm hold.

I was back to facing Levi using my usual fighting stance, avoiding and parrying his attacks. No way am I using another stance after what happened just now.

But my breath had gotten heavy and my jabs had gotten slow, Levi took advantage of this moment to send a swipe to my legs, causing me to tumble to the ground.

Levi approached me, about to give me a scolding of my life about cleanliness when suddenly we heard a loud applause, accompanied by a few whistles of appreciation.

"So this is the power of the Survey Corps! And they are still brats!"

"Hey! Isn't that our Hange?"

"I want to join the Survey Corps!"

Not far from our position, Erwin nodded in approval. "At least, it wasn't as embarrassing as I thought. These trainees got to see our better members fight."

I weakly sat up and looked around. Erwin and Mike were off to the side standing in front of the military uniform wearing crowds who were cheering for our fight. Some of the faces were familiar, others were new.

So that's what Erwin meant by embarrassing the Survey Corps.

If I have to guess, considering the amount, they are trainees, from the 90th and 91st Trainees Squad. I could see the face of the annoying tag-a-long Jeena Brown, the undying fly Auluo Bozado, and the chestnut haired girl, Petra Ral.

So Petra is from the 91st Trainee Squad.

The players in Levi's future Special Operations Squad were almost complete.

I blinked. Speaking of Levi...

I quickly shot up to Mike's back, not wanting to be near Levi. Thankfully, he didn't realize my runaway.

"Cadets!" Erwin started, "You have just seen the two youngest members of the Survey Corps sparring! They are only young teens, nevertheless, ones of our skilled soldiers! Will you be able to fight like them when the time comes? Will…"

And Erwin continued his impromptu speech.

Now that I think of it, wasn't it about time for the Survey Corps to hold a class in the Training Ground? And Erwin didn't even mention anything to me.

I scoffed. If I knew, I would have prepared something interesting.

"Now Cadets! We will go to the Titan Killing Stimulation Forest!"

Hmmm… maybe I can prepare something interesting.


	32. Prince Charming

**A/N : I tried to make the chapters longer, but it seems like it eats up the time.**

Chapter 31

**'Prince Charming'**

"Rico! Do you know that the Survey Corps members will be teaching the class today?"

The pale blonde turned to look at her chestnut friend, Petra Ral, who was looking excited as she jogged to her position.

"Hmph!" Rico scoffed, "it's just the Survey Corps. They are all suicidal folks."

Petra gasped in horror. "Rico Brzenska!" she chided, "How dare you talk that way about those who are fighting for our freedom!"

"It's true. There's no way for humanity to be free, Petra."

Petra sighed dramatically. "Rico, you are way too… rational, you know? And you're joining the military for what?"

"To go into the Garrisons and lead a quiet a blissful live with no shortage of food," she answered as she nodded proudly.

"Why not go into the Military Police? You will probably be one of the top 10!"

"Because Military Police are ignorant and idiotic fools."

Petra threw her hands up in exasperation as she shouts, "That's it! I give up! You are too much of a realist! Can't you dream a bit more?"

"No. Too much dreaming will kill you."

Then a comfortable silence lapsed as they walked to the Mess Hall.

"Petra, have you chosen which faction you will be joining after training?"

Petra thought for a moment before saying, "It will be either Military Police or the Survey Corps," then she sighed dreamily, "There will be soooo much drama there."

Rico scoffed. Of course that would be the reason. She was an avid fan of romance after all…

Sometimes, Rico had to wonder just how and why did the both of them became friends.

The both of them stepped into the open door of the Mess Hall. They took their portion of lunch and sat on an empty table, eating in silence. A few moments later, the seat next to Petra was taken by another female friend of theirs.

"Hoya, hoya! Just how silent can this table get?" she asked merrily as she swung her hand to Petra's shoulders. "Rico, she is all gloomy so I can understand, but you, Petra? My cheerful and flowery Petra?"

"Lynne!" Petra smiled cheerfully. "How did your 3DMG training go?"

Lynne grinned as she turned to Rico. "Forget about training! Have you heard that the Survey Corps's were coming to teach us after lunch?"

"Too late, I already knew it," Rico retorted. "Petra just told me earlier."

"Then," Lynne said, "Do you know that some of the Survey Corps's Great 4 were coming to teach us?"

Petra and Rico perked up. "Great 4?"

"Uh-huh," the gossipmonger nodded furiously. "The Great 4!"

At the questioning glance they gave her, Lynne gasped dramatically.

"You didn't know of the Great 4?"

They shook their heads. Lynne sighed as she leaned onto the table, letting go of the arm warped around Petra's shoulders.

"The title of the Great 4 of the Survey Corps was given to the top 4 members." Lynne started explaining. "There is the strongest soldier, Mike Zacharius, who survived the Expeditions for 3 years already. I heard he is some kind of Titan Sensor. When Titans come, he will always be the first one to know even if the Titans are miles away. And I heard he could fight at least 5 Titans simultaneously!"

"Wow!" Petra exclaimed, "That's handy!"

Rico just scoffed.

"I know," answered Lynne, "Then there's this mad scientist named Hange Zoe who creates weapons that only the stronger members of the Survey Corps use. She was pulled out of the Training Camp after half year and was said to be a Titan lover."

"How could anyone love Titans?" Rico asked disbelievingly.

"I heard she hugs and kiss Titans," Lynne shrugged as she answered. Rico and Petra scowled in disgust.

"Anyways, she found a way to distract Deviants on the Expedition to Wall Maria, so the Commander created 'Deviant Distraction Tactics' with her as the bait. It reduced 20% of the deaths!"

"Awesome," Rico said, "but disgusting."

"There's also a rookie since the Fall of Wall Maria who is able to fight on par with Mike Zacharius. I'm not sure of his name, but I heard he never get even a scratch during the expeditions! And he is said to be quick as lightning!"

"Eh? How come?"

"He is naturally fast and his 3DMG were made into the quickest one there is. He also came from the Underground City."

"What!" Rico shouted, "How could a criminal weasel in to the Military?"

"Dunno…" Lynne shrugged, "Though I heard that he was in a relationship with the mad scientist…."

Petra gasped. "How cute! Having relationships even in times of war! I want to be like them!"

"Then lastly," Lynne continued as she ignored the gushing Petra, "is the Commander himself, of course. Commander Erwin Smith created 'Long Distance Enemy Detection Formation' and the 'Deviant Distraction Tactics' which reduced the death rate to only 40%. He was also the one who gathered the other 3 individuals because he noticed their potentials and created formations against Titans. The Sensor, the Scientist Bait, the Black Lightning and the Commander make up the title of the Great 4 of the Survey Corps."

"So," Petra started after a moment of silence, laughing nervously all the while, "Some of these people will be coming to train us? Now I'm getting nervous."

"There's no need to get nervous, Petra," Rico deadpanned, "since lunch time is now over."

"Eh?" Petra looked at the pocket watch she kept with her. "It really is! Come on, let's hurry!"

And all three collected their plates and ran to the training grounds.

**(9w9)**

It was tense. Too tense for Petra's liking.

Sure, she was used in this kind of tense 'make-a-single-sound-and-you-die' feeling; she was after all, a soldier. Especially with Instructor Shadis breathing down your back when training, this is one of the feelings she was used to.

But Petra can't help but feel more tense than usual, even more so after she heard that gossiper Lynne talk about some of the members like gods.

The leader of the Great 4 – Commander Erwin – was talking on the front as the trainees lined neatly. He talked about the Survey Corps, how they operated, the consequences and the human fears. He talked about how much damage the Titans did to the Survey Corps, and the sadness and grief.

Petra gulped nervously.

Now, she didn't want to join the Survey Corps anymore. It was simply too scary. She didn't want to see her friends die or to feel the hands of death himself. She drearily hoped that she will be at the Top 10 and join the Military Police.

Her eyes darted to the figure leaning on the tree to their side, not far from the training ground. His eyes assessed every soldier, occasionally sniffing at the air for whatever reason he has.

Mike Zacharius, Commander Erwin earlier introduced, and she remembered that he is the Titan Sensor Lynne talked about. His eyes skimmed the trainees slowly, his gaze passing her spot without stopping.

That was when she heard an explosion, and then, from the corner of her eyes, she saw a plume of smoke rising from the forest behind Captain Mike. She shifted uncomfortably, going unnoticed by the others. She wanted to inform Commander Erwin of the smoke, but she also felt rather… scared about talking out.

Because explosions don't just happen in the Trainee Camp.

Then, after a while, she could hear a scream coming from the direction of the forest, slowly getting louder. It was accompanied by the sound of 3DMGs and shooting grapplers and a weird buzzing sound.

Captain Mike stepped out from under the tree, getting away from the forest.

A pony-tailed brunette in military uniform suddenly shot out from the forest, swinging up high.

Petra assumed it was a trainee breaking the rules. It is lesson time, after all, and 3DMGs were forbidden without permission.

That was when she realized that the brunette (she don't know if the brunette is a guy or girl, appearance wise, the brunette was rather androgynous) were too far high up. She gasped in fear. But thankfully, Mike caught the brunette. The brunette then ran away from the forest, to where the Trainees are lining. A black haired boy suddenly shot out from the forest, landing gracefully as he held a pair… of… sword like thing?

"Make way! Make way!" screamed the brunette with a boyish sound. Now, Petra assumed that the brunette is a 'he'.

The brunette ran past her, and she noted that he was damn quick.

She wanted to move that quick too…

Then she felt a larger burst of wind as the raven haired cased the other boy. She blinked.

Is it possible to move that quick?

Before she could think more on the question, her mind blanked out as she saw the scene in the front.

Because the brunette hugged the Commander!

Could the Commander have an illegal love? Could he be secretly gay?

Petra tried to shake her thoughts out. It's impossible for the last hope of humanity to be a pedophilic gay. It's just impossible!

Is it?

When Petra's mind returned to reality, she saw the two boys were chasing each other like kids, with Erwin as the centre. She noticed that the 3DMG the raven haired used had another sheath strapped to the side of the usual blades. The she looked at the waist of the Commander and Captain Mike. The both of them have the same sheath strapped, a handle sticking out. Then she looked at the… buzzing… sword the raven used.

_"…weapons that only the stronger members of the Survey Corps use…"_

Could that be the weapon?

Petra's mouth gapped open when the two brats started fighting. They were quick! She turned to look at the Commander, hoping that he will stop the kiddy brawl which happened to involved swords and professional jabs.

But the Commander stood to the side, silent and ever observing. Even Captain Mike stood to the side of the Commander doing nothing.

Petra was… disappointed, to say the least.

The brunette was finally down, and the raven strolled to the motionless figure with swords in hand. The trainees were silent, then they started to erupt to cheers and whistles, praising them.

"Tch! That brat!" a senior from the 90th Trainee Squad said scornfully from her right. Petra blinked.

"You know of them?" Petra asked curiously. The man scowled.

"I know the brown haired brat. The obnoxious brat had been degrading me since we first met!"

"Cadets! You have just seen two of our youngest and finest soldiers spar!" Erwin shouted to gain attention, "these two are both hardened soldiers, fighting for humanity's freedom! They had seen the horrors the Titans bring! They had felt the feeling of losing someone!"

It was then that Petra realized the logo stitched proudly to the chest of the brats.

Wings of Freedom.

And it pained Petra that someone, not even older than her, had experienced these things.

"When the time comes, will you be able to fight like them? Will you be able to stand and go against these monsters?"

Then, silence enveloped the training ground as the soldiers think, Petra included.

"We will be going to Titan Killing Stimulation Forest! As you go against the wooden Titans, the Survey Corps will point out what a normal Titan would do to let you avoid the mistake in the future! Understood?"

"Yes, Sir!"

**0/0**

The 90th and 91st Trainee Squads were divided into 3 groups. One will be supervised by the Commander, the other will be under Captain Mike, and the last one, and most surprising of all, will be led by the two boys.

Petra was in that group, feeling rather disappointed since the Great 4 isn't training her group. The brunette boy was at the front whilst the Raven haired was high up at the tree. The whole trainee had donned their 3DMG.

They were now in the forest. A fake Titan was pulled up not far from them.

The goggled brunette grinned. "Alright! Cadets! Introductions be damned! We are starting with you!" he pointed at Petra. Petra blinked.

"You! Chestnut!" he shouted, "Come here!"

Petra complied and approached the brunette. When she was within the reach of his arms, he grabbed her shoulders tightly, his face closing on her face uncomfortably close. He assessed her for a moment, and then he said in a menacing tone.

"Listen, I need you to teach that fake Titan a lesson, understood? Cut them splinters by splinters till none is left."

Petra, even though she didn't understand, just nodded fearfully.

The brunette let go of her and nodded contently. "Good, now any questions?"

"Um… one, actually," Petra replied hesitantly.

The brunette just grinned. "Shoot away."

"Um… we didn't know what to call you." She said as she motioned the rest of the trainees who nodded in agreement.

The brunette blinked, before smirking mischievously. A glint of sorts was seen on the eyes behind the brown goggles.

"Well…" he drawled with his boyish voice, "you see my grumpy friend?" he asked the whole trainee. They all nodded, seeing the scowling black haired boy on the tree.

"He is actually a clean freak! So you can call him Mr. Clean Freak! And since he is short, you can also call him Shorty!"

A branch went sailing from where 'Mr. Clean Freak' is and hit the brunette on the head. The brunette groaned in pain as he rubbed his head, Petra asking him if he was okay.

The goggled brunette ignored her.

"That's cruel, Mr. Clean Freak! I was just introducing you to them!"

The raven haired just jumped down and landed gracefully with the 3DMG. He approached the brunette then kicked him in the shin, leaving the brunette writhing in pain.

"You may call me Levi," said the raven haired, "And you may call _this_," he said as he kicked the shin of the brunette once more, "Shitty Four-Eyes."

"Levi! You are cruel! You repaid my kindness by treating me as a thing?"

"Fuck your kindness."

"Anyways!" shouted the brunette, "You may call me…" the brunette struck a pose, feet apart and thumbs up, "the Great and Aweso…"

Before the goggled boy even finished, Levi gave a roundhouse kick to the back of his head, causing the brunette to smack to the ground face first.

"Shut your trap, Shitty Four-Eyes."

Then he shot up, back to the tree he was resting earlier. The whole trainee watched with jaws dropped open. Petra immediately went out of her trance and asked once more if he really is okay.

"No, don't worry," he said as he stood back up with a grin, rubbing the back of his head all the while. "He is always like that since he is shy, you know?"

_Shy? That attitude is called shy?_

Petra couldn't believe the nerve of the boy in front of her. She readied herself for the onslaught of violence and closed her eyes.

Sure enough, she felt another rush of wind and heard another 'thunk'. She opened her eyes, and she could see the brunette rubbing his head in grimace and an additional tree branch was lying innocently on the ground.

Petra just can't bring herself to pity the brunette. This brunette was just too… thick headed.

Yes, that's the right word, thick-headed.

"Alright!" grinned the brunette as he looked at Petra. "Off you go!" he said as he ushered her to the fake Titan.

Petra absentmindedly walked to the 'Titan' when she realized one thing.

The brunette didn't tell her his name.

"Alright! Men!" the brunette shouted, "Pull those fakers up!"

And the ropes were pulled, the pulleys were turned, and the wooden planks rose. The fake Titans started turning and Petra went into action. Petra shot a grappler to the tree across, passing by the fake Titan's face before twisting for a cut. It was deep and clean. Petra could feel satisfaction bubbling and a smile etching.

But it was broken down when the brunette said his next words.

"No! No! No!" he shouted as he waved his hands frantically in the air, "That's not how you do it! Too close to the Titan's face and you'll be Titan's food! I'll call you again later on! For now, think of what should be done! Next one!"

So Petra walked back to the lines sulkily as the brunette pointed at another trainee.

"You! Undying fly! It's your turn now!"

"Brat! My name is Oluo Bozado! Get that to your mind!"

Petra looked at the bickering duo's reaction. She realized that the brunette was bickering with the senior she had been standing with earlier.

"Show me your puny skills, Undying Fly!" the brunette just continued as if there was no one interrupting him.

The senior just growled in annoyance and shot away.

The next moments were spent just like that, with Petra thinking, the brunette pointing and shouting at the trainees and Levi lounging on a high branch.

"Alright! Back to you, Chestnuts and ambers!"

_Chestnuts and ambers?_

_Does that mean… Petra?_

She stepped forward and readied herself, hoping that this time it will be a good hit.

"I hope you are done thinking?"

Petra nodded. When the brunette gave the starting sign, she shot the grappler to the right and pulled herself up. Then she shot another grappler to the Titan's back of the neck.

The wooden Titan swayed dangerously that Petra lost her balance in air and slammed into the back of the Titan's neck. She slid down, feeling a painful throbbing in her right soldier. She closed her eyes, preparing for the impact with the ground…

But instead, she felt the churning of her stomach, as if she was pulled back up to the air, then she heard a dull thump. She opened her eyes.

_Black hair, black eyes…_

_Levi._

Levi was standing proudly on the steady ground.

And she was in his arms.

_My Saviour!_

She promised that day, in her heart, that she will get stronger and stronger and serve by his side.


	33. Ehhhh?

**A/N : Pffft… Hahahaha!**

**Oh my goodness. Sorry, sorry… I've never known that my choice of words will make it rather… awkward… (As a matter of fact, I asked someone older than me to explain what's wrong with those chapters. When said person explain what some might think of using some words… sure to say I ended with a red face…)**

**Great thanks to EVA-Saiyajin who pointed it out. **

**It's just that I'm the kind of writer who spends eons of time for the story and types down the first word that came to my mind…**

**Again, I'm sorry to those who felt awkward… (Now I'm feeling like a scolded child, wait, I ****_am_**** a child… going 13 just this year…)**

**I'll try to find the mistakes again (which is probably hard… it's not easy to spot your own mistakes, you know…) and fix them.**

**And I'm still not sure whether or not there will be pairings… though it will be Levi and Hange if there is…**

**Now, shooo… off to the story.**

Chapter 32

**Ehhhh?**

During dinner, the soldiers of the Scouting Legion ate together with the trainees. So I knew just how much of a mess this place will be by the end of the day.

Though I'd be happily throwing things around, since I'm not the one who's going to do the cleaning, instead, it will be the trainees.

So I smirked as I prepare my modified Pac-mans, which will send out dung instead of the usual explosion. I tightly held the bomb to my palm, looking around the Mess Hall for any good striking opportunity. My gaze shifted from the boasting soldiers, to the awed trainees, then to the one silently eating their food.

My eyes finally landed on Undying Fly. I pulled my hand out from under the table and was just about to throw said bomb when a voice commanded.

"Hange."

I turned to my right and saw Erwin sitting with arms folded as he eyed me with a disapproving glare.

"What!" I shouted indignantly, feeling a little peeved that he stopped me from maiming the Undying Fly with dung, but Erwin can't possibly know that.

"I know what you're doing." He said stoically, "Put that back to your pockets."

I looked at him incredulously. "Are you psychic? How could you know?"

Erwin just stay silent. I reluctantly placed the dung Pac-mans back to my pocket.

"Come one, Erwin! Tell me! Please?" I asked as I sent out my best puppy eyes, though I know by Erwin's stern gaze, he didn't fall for it.

"I won't," he said, "If I tell you, you'll just make sure you won't make the same mistake the next time."

"You are no fun."

The next few moments were spent in silence as both of us looked at the Scouting Legion soldiers as they told the trainees about their stories in the expeditions. They talked animatedly, and the trainees were drawn into their stories. A series of 'aww's and gasps were heard from the trainees. I smiled when I saw Levi leaning on one corner, looking rather annoyed at being forced to be in the Mess Hall where everything filthy resides.

"Erwin," I called, Erwin raised a questioning eyebrow. "Look at Levi."

"What's wrong with him?"

"Just look at him."

Erwin narrowed his eyes and searched for Levi in the crowds. He finally saw Levi in a corner, but what's surprising to him was that a girl was approaching shyly.

"Levi had gotten himself an admirer," I piped up as I saw Petra shyly introducing herself to him. Levi just spared her a glance before staring at the noisy soldiers.

"What happened?" Erwin asked as Petra started talking to Levi.

"Some stupid soldiers forgot to check the equipments, so on that girl's turn, the ropes pulling the fake Titan kind of snapped and Levi saved her from falling."

Erwin sighed warily. "What happened to the soldiers?"

I smirked mischievously. "40 laps around the HQ while I chase them with my new invention."

"Do I want to know what the invention is?"

"It's a surprise," I grinned.

"Then probably not."

"Poo you."

"Act your age, Hange," Erwin scolded.

I looked at the soldiers of the Scouting Legion as the trainees exclaimed in awe. I stood up and looked back to Erwin.

"I'll be acting my age, then," I said as I walked to the noisy group.

**(0w0)**

"Oi! Clean Freak! Come here!"

Petra had been talking to her savior about how grateful she was and how cool he was on the field when he saved her earlier. Though it disappoints Petra that he didn't even reply her, but still…

The thing that irked her the most is the voice that called her savior.

She swiveled her head to the direction of the voice and saw the brunette that had trained them.

A growl vibrated on Levi's throat.

"Come on Levi!" the brunette shouted from the crowds of people, "I'll introduce you to my friends! They are from the 90th Trainee Squad!"

Levi just clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Oh, come on! Come here before I give you a hug and kiss set. And I swear you will not be able to run away!"

Petra saw that Levi's eyebrow twitched for a moment before he stood straight and walked over to the noisy group, leaving Petra behind.

Now Petra felt left out…

She trudged to the noisy group and slumped on a seat near Lynne and Rico who were chatting on the back said noisy group.

"Petra!" Lynne exclaimed in shock, but became concerned when she noticed the sour expression on Petra's face, "Why so sullen?"

Petra just shrugged her shoulders and stared intently at the duo on the front. She extended her ears to conversation ahead.

"Oh? Who is this? Is this your boyfriend?" one of the crowds asked the brunette. And Petra gasped in shock. Lynne and Rico, after hearing Petra's gasp, also started eavesdropping the group crowding in front. Lynne's eyes shining brightly at the thought of a hot gossip concerning Scouting Legion.

Meanwhile, in Petra's mind, she is thinking about inappropriate things.

_Could they be… gays? Is this what people call as boy's love?_

"No! No! No!" the brunette waved his hand frantically as he shouted, "He is no boyfriend!"

Petra sighed in relief.

"Eh? Then who is he?"

"His name is Levi! And he is…" he brunette smirked mischievously as he answered, "my Boy Toy!"

A series of gasps were heard across the room and Petra fell off her chair. Lynne seems like she found a gold mine and Rico scoffed. The room was suddenly very silent as people processed what was said.

_That is even worse than being boyfriends!_

Petra's heart… broke…

Then, there was a sudden thump and Petra saw Levi stomping on the brunette's back.

"Refrain from telling shitty lies, Shitty Four-Eyes," said Levi with a deep scowl, "it will cause shitty rumors."

"Eh?" the brunette looked confused, "but you _are_ my boy toy. We've known each other since we are small! And we played with each other!"

A girl from the crowds sighed. "Geez, you are always like this, making misunderstandings. You used the wrong term!"

"Then what term should I use?"

"Childhood friend."

"Eh? But that's too boring!"

Petra had started to calm down, finally realizing that the brunette was only fooling around.

Then Levi kicked the side of his stomach. "I don't care what that shitty dysfunctional brain of yours is thinking, but do what she said."

"No," the brunette said defiantly.

He was immediately replied with a swift kick to the side of his stomach. Levi immediately slinks away to a corner, leaving the brunette clutching the kicked spot on the wooden floor.

Sighs of relief were heard in the Mess Hall as everyone returns to what they were doing. Lynne started talking about the hotness of this gossip as Petra and Rico nodded absentmindedly, not exactly hearing what was said.

Though remembering the kick earlier, Petra needed to admit that she might not be able to stand after such a strong kick. She needed to make sure that thick-headed brunette is alright before she could rest herself.

She stood up and walked over to where the brunette is, then squatting down near his writhing form.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

The brunette looked up and smiled. "Ah! Chestnuts and ambers! Thank you for worrying me, but I'm fine! Just a broken rib or two."

"That's something to worry about!"

"Aaa… Calm down, calm down. I'm joking about the last part! Levi wouldn't do that much damage to me!" the brunette then grinned as he stood up and dusted himself. "Anyways, talking about Levi… you like him, don't you?"

Petra could feel her own cheeks heating up. "Wha-What are you talking about?"

"You do like him…" he stated, "Earlier when I say that Levi is my boy toy, you look like you are about to explode!"

"N-No I don't!" Petra exclaimed in embarrassment. "How d-did you reach that conclusion?"

"Hey, hey! I have a pride as a scientist!" said the brunette, "I test and observe! So of course I'll know these kinds of things!"

"You are a scientist?" Petra asked skeptically.

Before the brunette even answered, the door to the Mess Hall was banged open.

"Captain Hange!" a sandy haired man shouted, looking around the room frantically. There are leaves sticking to his military clothes and hair and there are some smudges of dirt here and there.

"Oh!" the brunette exclaimed, "Moblit! What are you doing here?"

"Captain! I was searching for you!" shouted the sandy haired man as he approached the brunette. "I thought something happened to you when I didn't find you in the HQ!"

Another sandy haired man entered the hall as he sniffed. It was Captain Mike.

"Snuffles!"

Captain Mike looked sternly at the pony-tailed brunette. "Your assistant looks like he went into hell and back again, so I decided to help by telling him where you are. And please stop calling me 'Snuffles'."

"Eh? Why? It's a cute nickname!"

"Hange…" Captain Mike was about to start his scolding, but the brunette seems like ignoring him.

"Wait!" Petra shouted loudly, "You are Hange Zoe? The Scientist Bait? You are a boy!"

The brunette looked at Petra skeptically. "A boy?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Petra nodded vigorously. "You are tall! You sound and speak like a boy! You have a built of a slender boy! The Scientist bait is supposed to be a girl!"

By now, half of the trainees were sighing and stifling their laughs, the other half were watching in confusion. Petra realized that most of her seniors were trying not to laugh.

The 'boy' looked down on 'his' chest, and then 'he' took of 'his' military jacket off. Petra noticed that the 'boy' _do_ have developed breast…

The brunette patted 'his' chest with tears in the corners of his eyes. "Sniff… I thought C-Cups should be big enough… Hiks! Isn't that right, Levi?"

From the corner, Levi just snorted; a smirk could be seen painted on his face. "Shut your shitty mouth, boy."

"Hiks! How cruel! Moblit," she turned to the disheveled sandy haired man, showing him her teary eyes, "I do look like a girl, right?"

Moblit, who was feeling awkward that a girl was crying in front of him, fumbled with his words. "Y-Yes! You do Captain! It is just the stiff military jacket hiding the… actual size of your… chest!"

"Uwaah!" the brunette cried even louder, "That means they are not big enough!"

"Captain!" Moblit tried to find words to console his teary Captain

"Ohohoho…" the brunette suddenly laughed, and Petra suddenly felt spooked out at the brunette's violent mood swings and Moblit blinked in confusion. "Moblit! Bring me bandages tomorrow! I'm going to masquerade around as a boy whenever I want! Ohohoho! I thank you, Petra, for giving me inspiration! Bouncing boobs are also uncomfortable during battles!"

A sigh was heard from behind Petra. Petra turned to her back and saw Commander Erwin Smith pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Not another stupid idea from her…" he muttered.

And then a growl came from her savior. Petra could feel waves of irritation coming from him even in this distance,

Just what did she just do?

"Levi, Mike, Moblit," the Commander called them, "Please stick with Hange at all times to avoid misunderstandings among soldiers. Moblit, do not bring any bandages for her."

Hange waved her hands frantically to motion Moblit to not agree to the Commander.

"Sorry Captain," he said sympathetically to Hange before facing the Commander and firmly said, "Understood,"

"Uwaah! Moblit! You meanie!"

The night ended the members of the Scouting Legion in a brawl caused by Hange, Petra finally admitting that yes, the one she thought as a male monkey brat is actually a girl, and Petra realizing that she was actually trained by one of the Great 4. The brawl was ended by Commander Erwin and Captain Mike. When the Scouting Legion left the Training Camp, Petra finally have the time to think again about Levi.

Now that she thought back, Levi seems really close to Captain Hange…

Can it be that…

_"Though I heard that he was in a relationship with the mad scientist…."_

She remembered the lines Lynne said concerning the Scientist Bait and Black Lightning. Captain Hange is the Scientist Bait, and Black Lightning is someone close to her… then… that means… Levi?

Could Levi be the Black Lightning?

Petra gasped. This means that both of them are dating! She has no chance to gain the heart of her savior!

_"He is no boyfriend!"_

Petra calmed down when she remembered the line the monke- she meant – Captain Hange said. But her calmness crumpled again when she remembered the next absurd line.

_"He is… my boy toy!"_

Argh! Captain Hange is so confusing!

She gave up thinking about their relationship. Though, another topic came to her mind.

Levi is the Black Lightning…

Which means she needs to join the Scouting Legion….

Which also means that she will need to get even stronger to protect him…

Then she remembered another thing.

_"I thank you, Petra, for giving me inspiration!"_

Captain Hange called her Petra earlier, even though Petra was very sure that the Captain wouldn't know his name.

...

Nah, she probably heard someone calling her...


	34. Binds

Chapter 33

**Binds**

"Kyaa! Ahh! S-stop it!"

"I'm sorry Captain, your first orders were to ignore every orders to stop during this session, so I'll keep on continuing."

"Ahh!"

Erwin had just exited his own room in the HQ and was about to go down the hall when he heard that… disturbing… sound… followed by a few bangs.

What's more disturbing is the fact that it was Hange who was moaning and Moblit who was talking calmly. Erwin had to wonder; didn't Keith post a rule of no sex in the HQ rooms? Now why are they doing… that… here?

Then something even more worrisome came to his mind. Hange is only going 15 years old in a few days, isn't that too early to be having sex? Could Moblit actually be raping Hange now?

As Erwin got closer to Hange's room, he could hear the noises inside getting louder.

"Ah! It hurts! It hurts! I feel like exploding!"

"Calm down, Captain, they can't be exploding."

"Ah!"

Then there was another series of banging.

…

Right now, Erwin was having second doubts of scolding them. It seems that the inside of the room was very… heated… indeed.

But he slammed the door open anyways.

"What is going on here!"

The two figures in front of him froze immediately.

Erwin blinked at the sight that he was seeing.

Though he expected Hange to be… under… Moblit, he didn't expect for Moblit to actually be fully clothed.

Hange was leaning on the table, her forehead rested on the wood and her hand slamming the wooden table repeatedly. She was wearing her military pants, but her top was rather indecent, with only tightly wrapped bandages on her chest and… was that a sports bra under the bandages? Moblit's hands were holding a bundle of bandages. He pulled both his hands tightly, tightening the bandages on Hange's chest. She flinched and slammed her hand even harder to the table.

So _that_ was what actually happened.

But there's no way he was letting any them thinking him as a pervert for suspecting them for having sex.

"Moblit," Erwin started, "I did tell you not to give Hange any bandages."

Moblit pulled the bandage again. "I did not provide her with any bandage. Captain has a few rolls in case of emergency." Moblit tied the ends of the bandages. He gave the knot an experimental nudge before finally saying, "Captain, it's done."

Hange whizzed as she tried to straighten her back. Moblit passed her the usual yellow shirt and military jacket she wore. She put it on and buttoned up her shirt, and then she faced the mirror.

"Ah!" She exclaimed, "I look like a boy!

Erwin had to agree. With her boyish voice, goggles and outgoing behavior, people can easily mistake her as a boy. But now, with her chest bind and military jacket, people will think she was a boy in a first glance, though it would have been perfect if not for her constipated face.

"Moblit, you are dismissed," Hange gasped out. Moblit immediately complied, leaving Erwin leaning on the door frame and Hange putting her 3DMG straps on.

"You look like you are about to keel over and die." Erwin commented.

"Am not!"

"Isn't that binding too tight? Your face is turning pale now."

"Huh?"

"You do remember we are having an expedition today, right?"

"I know! I do remember! I want to try fighting Titans this way!"

"The Titans will swallow you before you even move," scoffed Erwin, "Can you even do your usual air somersaults now?"

When Erwin was replied with silence, he scoffed. "As I thought."

"Geez, shut up! Why are you here anyways?" there was a moment of silence as she thought of a plausible reason before she grinned coyly, "Oh! I bet you were thinking of something perverted, didn't you?"

"I did not," Erwin lied smoothly.

"Oh, don't lie to me, young one," she retorted back, "I've breathed the air for 56 years, twice as long as you have. And I know what men your ages think."

Erwin growled and promptly walked away. He could already imagine Hange doing her victory dance behind his back.

Damn her knowledge of her previous life.

**0o0**

As it turns out, having tight chest bindings whilst fighting is not a good thing.

One such example is me right now.

We had reached the checkpoint we made previously, but as there are Titans roaming around the area, the Scouting Legion needs to scout the area and eliminate any Titans in the surrounding area. So, as per Erwin's usual orders, which are to eliminate all the Titans in the area, the whole Scouting Legion dispersed in teams or solos throughout the checkpoint.

And doing somersaults or balancing moves in the air while having a super tight chest binding is actually impossible!

Each of my movements were limited, especially those twists and turns concerning the torso.

And not only was my movements halted, but my breathings have become heavier.

Good thing I have my faithful little Moblit, or else I might be crunched in a Titan's mouth right now…

I swung around a branch and saw a Titan roaming absently. My eyes shone in glee as I approached the Titan. It has, after all, been a few weeks since I get to interact with the not superfast and 'chasing-demon' Deviants.

"Hello sweetie!" I called out to the Titan, which turned to the direction of my voice, "Long time no meet!"

The Titan started walking to my direction. Moblit was following closely behind me, together with some of the rookies. I smirked mischievously as I thought about what stunt I should use to this Titan to shock those naïve little rookies.

I let myself fall to the Titan. As I reached closer, I pulled on the Titan's hair to slow my fall and landed on the Titan's shoulder. I turned to face the Titan, but the Titan just looked at Moblit and the rookies…

Turns out, when the Titan noticed me, the Titan actually noticed Moblit.

I had forgotten how… invisible I was to the normal Titans…

"Heelllloooo, Love!" I shouted on top of my lungs, coughing at the end because damn, the chest binds were inhumanely tight!

There was a slight jolt through the Titans body before the Titan turned its head to the shoulder I was standing on and tried to bite me off. Seems like he just noticed me…

With the help of 3DMG, I switched from the right shoulder to the left shoulder. The Titan's head snapped to the right and it tried to bite me off again. Then I went to the left shoulder, then the right, and the left again. This goes on repeatedly, though the movements of the Titan were getting wilder.

On the corner of my eyes, I saw Moblit on stand-by for when who knows I keel over. The rookies were getting more panicky by the second as they watched over me and Moblit was trying to cool their heads and assure the rookies that I was going to fine.

An idea came over me. I smirked mischievously as I stopped my movements in front of the Titan's face. On the corner f my eyes, I saw all the poor rookies following me shouting out in warning and Moblit sighing exasperatedly.

Me?

When the Titan opened its mouth and tried to bite me, I just throw some Pac-mans to the direction of the mouth. Boom it goes.

I had to wonder, when will the rookies learn to at least ignore me? I mean, it's the Eight Expedition to Wall Maria that they joined in! Shouldn't they at least learn by now?

I shot back up to where Moblit is up the trees and gasped for air. Agh… Damn bindings!

**(owo)**

Amanda Lyrica is a good rookie of the Scouting Legion. She may not be one of the Top Ten on the 89th Trainee Squad, but she was damn well proud of her best eleventh spot. It _is_ a good spot, considering that she actually came from the almighty Lyrica family of Wall Sina.

Though, she had gotten sick of the stupidity of the people in Wall Sina. Who the heck stands idly as they are getting closer and closer to death? Well, the citizens of Wall Sina certainly did, but she didn't! She wanted to fight against the Titans! Even if her parents kicked her out of the damn family!

…

Now the crude language of the Outer Walls had gotten into her. Great, just great.

She was now resting atop of a huge tree branch, looking at the night sky as she spread her ear for any loud Titan steps. She was waiting for her night guard partner all the while.

_Hange Zoe_, she remembered lightly. It was that Squad Captain who was too young to actually lead any squad. An incompetent captain, she might say. How that boyish girl landed herself in such a prestigious position had always been a mystery to her and the whole Scouting Legion.

One thing she prided herself was her intelligence, but for the love of the Walls, she can't spot anything leader worthy on the goggled brunette!

She constantly hugs and kisses Titans. There were frequent explosions both accidentally and purposely in the HQ. She took this dangerous job as a stunt game and tried to impress the others. She disrespects Commander Smith…

She can still go on with the negative list.

Then Amanda heard the familiar sound of grappler shooting to the tree and the sound as it pulled someone up to the branch she was resting on. There was a light thud and the branch quivered slightly under the weight.

"You are late by around 2 minutes and half," Amanda stated with scorn.

"Ahaha…" the late brunette laughed sheepishly, "Sorry, sorry, Erwin gave me an earful regarding sugar consumption…"

"Address Commander Smith with respect," Amanda stated, "You are just a Squad Captain compared to his commander status."

The Captain pouted. "Geez, a sticker to the rules. Erwin don't mind it at all, why should you mind?"

"It is disrespect."

"Ouch."

An awkward silence transcended the both of them. Amanda decided that now might be the time to ease her curiosity.

"Mrs. Zoe," Amanda asked, "may I ask a question?"

Hange just raised an inquiring eyebrow.

"You are mentally too unstable and too childish to be a leader, how did you become a Squad Captain?"

Hange blinked for a few moments.

"That," she started, "is pretty blunt. You do know I'm a Captain, right? Asking that kind of question, no matter how polite you ask me, might get you some punishment, you know?"

"I do, but I'm curious. I've rarely seen you contributing to humanity."

"Ouch," Hange gasped in mock hurt, "You know, these advanced weapons the Commander, Captains and Team Leader holds are actually made by me."

"I know, I've heard rumours."

"Then that means I've contributed to humanity."

Amanda growled in annoyance.

"That's beside the point. You are clearly not a leader material. This can be shown through the Third Expedition to Wall Maria, while you are leading Team 3, 4, and 6 which was led by Ray Cruso, Allen Veya and Dorothy Millan respectively. You attempted to save a soldier, Riza Anglo, and attracted the attention of 7m class Titan and endangered the whole Team 4. And also the Fifth Expedition when you suddenly abandoned your own Titan only to cut the stomach of another Titan in an attempt to save Moblit Berner, your assistant, and also…"

"Whoa! Whoa!" Hange interrupted. "Chill, girl. Don't tell me you actually remember every single stunt I made! Oh my, I didn't know I have an admirer like Levi!"

Amanda growled in annoyance. "It's not your ridiculous stunts I remember. Like it or not, I remember everything I see! So I'm clearly not your admirer!"

"Eh? Really?" Hange asked curiously. "Then state me the names of the Scouting Legion members! According to the batch, from the oldest to the newest!"

And the night was spent as she lazily listed out the name and batch of the person and Hange noting every person she knew of.

**(0w0)**

"Erwin, I've found a mine of gold who might actually help me regarding the future."

An inquiring eyebrow was raised.

"I do hope that this person has the right set of mind?"

"She is polite, though rather blunt. From the way she carries herself, she seems like someone who comes from the Inner Walls. Is that acceptable?"

Erwin nodded in thought.

"What will you need this person for?"

"I need her for observation and information gathering of some people. She is an excellent informant. How could such an excellent player not present in the book? We can use her for humanity's asset! She seems to be set on helping humanity, too."

"Do what you will."

"Eh? Really? Then I have a request."


	35. Apprentice

**I do have a reason why Hange is acting childish… though I had been fretting over when to write out the chapter… With your question though, I guess I have to write out the chapter as soon as possible...**

**About Levihan or Rivetra, if I do am making a pairing, I'm leaning on the Levihan side, and problem is, I'm still unsure on where to start the pairing thing…**

Chapter 34

**Apprentice **

Basically, right now, as their horses galloped back to the Gate of Karasana District, Levi is feeling suspicious.

He narrowed his eyes on the person riding on the horse in his left side. That usually empty spot was actually filled right now, all because Hange, for once, was not actually running out of her post to do some 'ass-saving' or 'Titan flirting'. Her expression right now was that of full seriousness, it was void of that playful grin or that mischievous glint in the eyes.

Levi did know this side of Hange which were full of seriousness. He had seen it a dozens of time when the both of them were still brats, but ever since they met again, Hange had been full of smiles and pranks. Levi didn't ask her about this change though…

Sure, she had been a shitty bitch, but he remembered that she was way calmer in their children days!

_"Oi, Shitty Four-Eyes, the hell are you doing day dreaming like that?"_

_Hange's eyes fluttered to his direction from her position on the grasses before she stared back into the Walls of Maria._

_"Thinking."_

Before that time, Levi hadn't bothered to ask what she was thinking about. If she was not making mischief or helping out the orphanage, she had always been spending her time like that, sitting somewhere with a faraway, yet serious look, similar to her expression right now, thinking of weird things.

_"Your shitty brain is actually capable of it?"_

_Hange gasped in mock hurt. "Levi! I've always been thinking."_

_"Your brain is clearly dysfunctional. What are you thinking about?"_

_Hange hummed in response. "Just this and that."_

_"That's not a fucking answer. Try better."_

_"Just, thinking of the future. Should I be myself? Or should I be my true self?"_

_"See? Your shitty brain is dysfunctional. That's something weird to be thinking about. The answer is fucking clear."_

_Hange just smiled in response, though he could still see uncertainty in her eyes. _

Right now, Levi had suspicion that she was forming a plan of some sort in that shitty head of her. But what kind of plan, he had no fucking idea. But he suspected that it was something concerning the additional member to her private team.

The aforementioned additional team member was a long black laired ponytailed woman whose horse was galloping on Hange's right side, a little bit behind Moblit. The raven haired female looked rather displeased at her position, though she kept herself calm and composed.

Levi had seen her fight, and while she had good movements, it was not _that_ good for Hange to immediately scout her to her team. She was just the average good, not the genius good. Hange must have found something about her that made her want to keep the rookie under her wing.

Damn Shitty Four-Eyes and her shitty reasons of doing things. Why else would Hange ask Erwin for _that_ kind of atrocious deal?

But Levi was very sure that the Shitty Bitch hadn't even told the raven haired girl of any of _this_ matter.

The Gate of Wall Rose in Karasana District came into view, and Levi could finally relax from the tenseness of the expedition. But of course…

"Yahooo! Finally back!"

A certain goggled brunette just had to ruin it by kicking her horse and speeding up, passing the soldiers at the front. Levi glared the speeding brunette irately before he nudged his horse to go faster, same goes to the raven haired girl and Moblit.

They had no other choice. The soldiers of one team needed to follow the leader. At least, that's what Erwin wrote as one of the rules of 'Long Distance Enemy Detection' formation.

"Wahhoo! First to step back again!"

The Gate opened, and Hange was the first to step into the Karasana District, followed closely by the three of them. Hange pulled the reins of her horse to a stop, turning to face the rest of the Scouting Legion as they came closer to the Gate.

"Erwin! I'm going to the HQ's Lab! If you need anything from me, just find me there!" she shouted before she kicked her horse once more, going to the other Gate. Moblit followed suit.

"Shitty Bitch. You're making my shitty job here even shittier," he cursed under his breath. The raven haired girl looked at him wide eyed, scandalized of his casual use of curse words. Levi snapped the reigns of his horse, and the horse sped up. Levi could hear another set of gallop following closely behind him as he passed by the crowding people.

When they finally reached the HQ, Levi approached the door of the castle, only to find that it didn't budge open.

Levi growled in annoyance. Of course door will be locked, the whole Scouting Legion were out in this expedition!

"This day is getting shittier."

"Please refrain from cursing," the girl suddenly said, causing Levi to give her an annoyed glare, "such foul mouth is unbefitting for a member of the Scouting Legion."

Levi narrowed his eyes on her. After a moment, he promptly turned his heels and headed to the other way.

That day, he decided that he didn't like this rookie.

He pulled the reins of his horse and kept on walking to the direction he knew where Hange is until he finally stopped in front of a small brick hut.

Erwin had a hut built not far from the HQ some time before Levi's entrance to the Scouting Legion, and the hut was done just few days ago. The sole purpose of this hut was to save the HQ from any further explosion caused by Hange and her experiments. So Hange's lab was moved from the HQ to the hut.

Levi scowled. The smell of the hut… it fucking stinks! What the hell did that Shitty Bitch do in the span of 3 days since she moved her lab here?

He scowled even more when he realized that the raven haired girl followed him here.

He tied the reins of his horse to a nearby post and banged the door of the small hut open.

"Eeeep!"

Then there was a sound of gunshot.

"Captain! Are you- Mmph!"

"Kyaa! Moblit! I'm sorry!"

Levi looked distastefully at the room. Sheets of papers scattered around, flasks were propped here and there, dusts swirling in some corners. There were many chemicals, but the most eye-catching one is probably the green… glob inside a black pot. What the fucking hell did the bitch make? He recalled that she was making that disgusting glob around two weeks ago, during the further discussion of the Deviant Diversion plan.

Then he noticed that the same green glob covered Moblit's whole face. Hange was fussing over him, trying to get said glob to come off Moblit's face. A muffled noise came from Moblit.

"Oi, Shitty Four-Eyes, what's with the fucking mess! And the hell did you make!"

Levi could feel the waves of disapproval coming from the girl behind him, but he ignored it.

"Ah, Levi, Amanda! Amanda, go heat some water! And Levi!" Hange turned her burning gaze on him, "This is the second time you made me fail in the same experiment!"

Levi raised an indifferent eyebrow. "So? This place is fucking dusty."

"Is not."

"Do."

"Does not."

"Do."

Thud!

And poor Moblit bumped on the table and was sprawled on the ground, his shout of pain muffled by the green glob.

"Ah! Moblit!" Hange started buzzing around Moblit again, sitting him up before trying to peel off said glob off his face, but the glob sticks too strongly to his face and, after a bit of pulling, snapped back to Moblit face.

How the Shitty Bitch managed to make something like that shall stay a mystery even to Levi, her closest 'friend'.

"So how does it feel like to be stuck with my Ditto?" she asked as she pulled out a brown leather book and a pen from her pockets.

Hange was replied by muffles.

"Oh, that's right, you can't move your mouth. Then just nod or shake your head. Understand?"

Moblit nodded his head.

"Does it feel too sticky?"

Moblit nodded.

"Is your skin in any form of pain?"

A shake of Moblit's head.

Levi scowled. The shitty bitch still had the time to continue her experiment despite the condition of her assistant.

"Isn't that a bit heartless, Ms. Zoe? Can't you pity your assistant? You're treating him as a lab rat," said the raven haired girl as she returned with a kettle of hot water.

Hange turned to face her, and Levi saw a glimpse of conflict on her face. He blinked for a moment to make sure he was not imagining such thing, and the next moment, Hange was smiling goofily like she always does.

"Nah, Amanda, wet the napkin with hot water, and then use the wet napkin to stroke my Ditto."

Amanda did as ordered, but she continued to ask. "Are you avoiding my question like last time?"

"Hmm? Last time?"

"About how you became the captain."

"I don't know, really," Hange said, "I just have a clear vision of what I want, and a little skill and dare to back it up."

Levi scoffed. "Yes, if you count hugging and kissing Titan for the sake of curiosity a little bit of dare, and if you fucking consider 'a little skill' as the ability to fucking hug and kiss those Titans."

Hange suddenly smiled a smile of thousand suns. "Is that a compliment I hear Levi?"

Levi scowled. "No."

"Aww… you're so shy!"

Hange was then rewarded a kick to the head for her cheek.

Levi heard a cough, and he turned to see Amanda staring at Hange.

"Aren't you scared of the Titans?" Amanda asked. This particular question made Levi scoff.

How can someone who hugs and kiss as many Titan possible within her reach be scared of Titans?

"I… am scared," Hange answered earnestly.

Levi blinked. That… is news.

"But I guess, as a scientist, my research is more important. And I need to be…" Hange paused as she searched for the right word to use, face scrunching up in concentration, "…Hange."

Levi stared at her, finally remembering that yes, Hange had this other serious yet mysterious side. Even until now, he still didn't know what she meant by being herself.

"But some of them really are cute! I'm not lying when I was saying they are cute!"

Levi felt like face palming himself, but Levi does _not_ do face palms. He shouldn't have believed her…

"You're contradicting yourself," Amanda said drily.

"Well, I am me!" Hange chirped happily.

Something was suddenly thrown Hange's way. And the green thing stuck on Hange's jacket sleeve.

"Eeep!"

The green glob was now something akin to a green slime. Levi scowled in disgust at the sight. He wouldn't want that thing sticking anywhere near him.

"Amanda! How cruel!" Hange sniffed, "You should've placed this inside a tube for further testing! Now it's a waste!"

"No respect for those undeserving," Amanda stated, "How did you even managed to make something like that?"

Moblit started helping Hange to get rid of the green goo off the uniform. His face was red, probably from that green thing's sticking prowess.

"Here, you mix calcium hydroxide and plant chlorophyll with a little of ethanol, then you…"

Hange suddenly got serious as she explained the process. Moblit was also listening attentively as he placed a small tube of green goo – which had been on Hange's military jacket – to a shelf. Levi had gotten bored of her science talks, so when Hange was still talking, he started to roam around the small hut and started to clean.

Hange created that cleaning mechanic did she not? _Levi II_? Why can't she just make that machine again for herself!

After sometime, and a little bit of demonstration, Hange shouted happily.

"Now you are going to do what I just explained to you!"

"Huh!" Amanda stared at her incredulously, "I will decline on that offer. There is no reason for me to obey you as I am under the direct order of Finnian Bisco of team 3."

Hange froze.

"Eh? You don't know?" Hange asked suspiciously.

"Know what."

Inwardly, Levi prepared for the moment Hange dropped her bomb.

"Under Erwin's order, you are transferred from Team 3 to my team. You are to obey and learn any possible things that I will teach you. You are my apprentice from now on."

"Wh-What! Why is it that my opinion is not taken into account? This is not a fair decision!"

Levi scoffed. It is Hange we are talking about after all…

_"Eh? Really? Then I have a request."_

_Erwin looked at her curiously. "State it."_

_"I want her apprenticeship."_

_There was a moment of silent as Erwin processed her request._

_"Have you asked for her approval?"_

_"No…" Hange said solemnly, "But she will probably agree."_

_"Why did you choose her?"_

_"I… she has photographic memory, and what I knew was not something that can be learned so easily. So I give her the knowledge I have on mechanical aspects, so that who knows, when I die, someone will still be able to invent new weapon."_


	36. Expedition to Death

Chapter 35

**Expedition to Death**

It has always been like this ever since he stepped into the position of a commander. They go to expeditions, and then when they were back in the Walls, he have piles of paper work to be done because of his absence during those expeditions. Same goes to Mike.

He scribbled another few words as he ensured himself that yes, he is able to get this work done by today.

Sometimes, he envied Hange that she has the skills to ignore those paper works and just dump it to Moblit.

"Look at what I made, Erwin!" shouted the devil as she banged the door to his office open and entered the room.

Erwin just grunted as he worked on his piles of killer paper works.

"Oh come on! Look at what I made! It will be a huge improvement to humanity!"

Erwin reluctantly looked up from the paper. He saw Hange holding a gun, posing to shoot using it.

"What."

"This gun is loaded with special bullets I called as Ditto! It has a strong sticking power! Look!"

And Hange shot a bullet to the wall on Erwin's right. The bullet shot out, and when it collided with the wall, a part of the wall was covered in a thick green substance.

Erwin's eyebrow twitched.

"And how will that," Erwin stressed the last word, "be a huge improvement to humanity?"

Hange gasped in horror. "It is! Can't you imagine what this little thing can do? We have greater chance on capturing Titans!"

"We don't even have enough man power to capture a 4m class Titan."

"So this Ditto will help! If we made Ditto bullets at the size of a canon ball, we can shoot it to the Titan's feet and made the Titan immobile, or maybe to their face to make it harder for them to detect or bite humans!"

"Whilst I do approve that this is a great asset, I still will not order the Scouting Legion to deliberately catch a Titan."

When Hange heard this, she looked like she was about to protest, but Erwin cut her in.

"Have you even thought of how we could keep the Titan immobile as we return to the Walls? Have you thought about how to return with the Titan without being attacked?"

Hange snapped her mouth shut. "Fine," she said, "but when I took care of those matters, you will give me the permission to order Titan Capture."

"Of course," Erwin said as he continued with his paper work, concluding that this conversation is closed. But after a moment of silent, he spoke up again, "Is there something that you need?"

Hange laughed sheepishly. "Well… there is this other matter, though it might be too much to ask."

Erwin raised an inquiring eyebrow. What is too much more to ask when she previously asked a Titan Capture?

"You see…" Hange started, "I am a scientist, and I invent things. I also do some research, but I would like other possible matter of research and other's opinion, and…"

Erwin's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as Hange started blabbering. He interrupted her before she got any further and said, "Just state what you want."

"Uh… I would like to create a research team."

"Isn't your apprentice and assistant enough?"

"No… Amanda is more for me to pass down my knowledge as inventor and Moblit is my aide in experimenting. This research team will focus more on discovering new things on the Titans."

Erwin nodded in understanding. "But the process to ask for approval from the Inner Walls will be hard and long. Is that fine?"

"Okay then. There is also another matter. Though it was much simpler than my previous requests, but it has been bothering me since the beginning."

Erwin sighed to his desk. Now what?

He took a sip from the cup of coffee that had been there for the past hour.

"Can I dissect Mike and see how his nose and brain works?"

His eyes widened as he choked on his coffee. He spluttered out, "W-what! No! You are not allowed to dissect any human in any way!"

Hange sent a goofy grin his way as she jumped out of the window. Her 3DMG buzzing as she went down the castle walls.

"Hange!" Erwin ran to the open window to see Hange swinging around the castle wall with her grapplers. "If you dissect Mike, I will ban all of your favorite foods for the rest of your life, even when you quit the Military, Hange!"

And Hange disappeared as he turned on one corner.

"… I do hope she won't do it…" Erwin mumbled, "But she might carry this on for her own amusement. It's better to warn Mike."

In the right moment, there was a knock on the door and in came Mike.

"Erwin, a mail from the Inner Wall came. The Scouting Legion is to patrol around the Walls and Districts."

Mike sniffed and raised a questioning eyebrow when Erwin didn't reply. Being Mike, his nose caught the scent of the room.

"Did Hange just come out? She just asked for another absurd thing, didn't she?"

Now Erwin understand why Hange would want to dissect Mike's nose. It was simply too sharp to be the nose of any humans! Add to the fact tha Hange is a scientist!

"Mike," Erwin said solemnly, "Watch out for Hange. She might do something weird to your nose."

Mike blinked

"Does shoving plant extracts and other people's military uniform to my nose considered as weird?"

Erwin is speechless at that.

**..0**

And so few months passed quickly as I trained, did some research, go to expeditions, trying to spike Erwin's drinks (Damn, this was one hard task! How could Moblit pull it off first time around?), and finally teaching my cute apprentice about the mechanics of my world.

Actually, I can't believe she actually listened to me. Well… anyone will listen if I took such… drastic measures…

_Both of us were on top of Wall Rose. I was tired of her blatant disobedience when I told her to demonstrate what she learned. Other than the both of us, Moblit, Erwin and Mike were present. I was planning on fixing her attitude, and all the rest were to hold me back if I get too far. Amanda's waist was tightly tied to a rope, the other end of the rope was coiled around a pulley to make a huge bundle of rope._

_"Why are we here anyways? Did I not inform of you that I refuse to be your apprentice, Ms. Zoe?" she spat as she tugs on the rope encircling her waist. "What is this rope for? I refuse to do anything concerning your heartless experiments."_

_"Don't worry. It's not an experiment in any way. So, last chance. Will you listen and respect me as a teacher?"_

_"No. You are younger than me. What knowledge can you impart to me anyways?"_

_I sighed heavily, before finally steeling myself and approached her._

_"I'm sorry, but I have to do this," I said solemnly, pity was reflected through my eyes._

_"Huh?"_

_My hands shot out and I pushed her off the Wall. She screamed as she fell off the height of 50 m. I looked down the wall as she descended to the ground. At about 10 meters, her fall started to slow down, and on around 4 meters before she hit the ground, she was pulled back up to the sky. I tilted my head up to watch her as she bounced back higher than the walls, before finally going down again._

_It's a good thing I had the grace to use those elastic ropes instead of the usual ones._

_"Hange, isn't that… too cruel?" Mike asked uncertainly. "I can even smell her fear from here."_

_I looked at Amanda as she bounced back up. "Nah, it's necessary. Since she won't demonstrate what I taught her."_

_After a few more bounce, I pulled her back to the top of the Wall. Amanda's face was extremely green and she was holding her stomach as she moaned painfully._

_"So? Will you listen to me now?" I asked, which in turn, received a glare from her way. "Does that means no?"_

_Amanda scowled._

_I did the easier thing and pushed her down the Wall once more. All four of us were watching as Amanda 'fly'._

_"Um, Captain?" this time it was Moblit's turn to ask uncertainly._

_"Yes?"_

_"If I was as disobedient as her, are you going to do that to me too?"_

_"Hmm…" I hummed in thought, "Most probably yes."_

_From the corner of my eyes, I could see Moblit paling considerably as he mumbled something along the lines of 'good thing I listened to her'._

Ever since then, even though Amanda Lyrica is as prideful as always, she obeyed me when it comes to the lessons I gave her. But I'm still surprised she actually still has the guts to disobey me outside the lessons.

One thing I realize about Moblit was that he suddenly became even more obedient than he was, and I thought that was Impossible!

Overall, nothing important had happened in the past few months.

But it seems that today begged to differ, as one year had passed since the Fall of Wall Maria, and something important happened in this time. There will be an expedition, not with the usual trained Scouting Legion soldiers, but with the victims of the Fall of Wall Maria…

And this will also be the death of thousands of people, including that of Armin's grandfather.

"What! You want me to lead this expedition?"

And I was practically in the highest stage of panic. Does this even happen in the real story? Hange leading the 'expedition to death'?

"It's the decision of the Inner Walls. They said that it was so that those victims can contribute to humanity," said Erwin solemnly, knowing that this expedition will end in total slaughter.

Levi scoffed. "Those brainless aristocrats understand nothing. It was actually because of fucking food shortage and living space that there's this shitty expedition."

"I know that!" I shouted, "What I want to know is why they specifically choose me!"

Erwin scowled. "That is something I'd like to know too."

The atmosphere in the office got heavier as we thought all this over. Mike was lounging around the corners of the room and Levi sat in one of the sofa. I was pacing around the carpet in agitation. Moblit and Amanda were not present as this is a meeting only for the higher ranks of the Scouting Legion. Levi, whilst he was still a regular soldier, was going to be promoted into the Second Commander after 6 more months, so he was allowed in these meetings.

"But I have an idea," said Erwin.

"And that idea is?" I asked.

"Someone with high position might want your death."

"I do hope it isn't Nile Dok?" I asked wearily, remembering the time I asked for approval for Jigsaws.

"No. Nile and Pixis was strongly against this too. It's someone even more influential than him."

"Shit, what did I do? I've never offended anyone with high position other than Nile Dok!"

"It might concern your inventions or research."

I paused in my pacing as I contemplated the idea. My inventions have helped humanity, and I can still create such things for the betterment of the future. The Inner Wall should not be that stupid to throw someone like me away, unless I am doing something that's endangering the Inner Walls or some sort of secret they hold.

Other than inventing, the only thing I do worth mentioning is my research of Titans. Unless the Titans have some sort of secret that might expose the dirty secrets of the Inner Walls upon finding...

Of course! Lord Reiss! I should've remembered!

Father of Historia Reiss, otherwise known as the 'goddess' Krista Lenz. His family line held the secret to the Titans, if he knew someone researching on the Titans; he might feel uncomfortable of it and kill me off! And he had the full backing of the Wall Occult, not to mention some other aristocrats.

"Erwin. Does it seem like the Inner Wall will send assassins to me if I survive the expedition?"

"No. They won't think much of you right now. They are not in hurry for your death."

"Well… at least that's something good to hear."

"Do you have someone in mind that might want your head?" asked Erwin.

"I… do. Even though we didn't meet, I know it was written in what I read in the passing, just… I think it's very different," Meaning, I know it from a book, but I think it was not supposed to happen.

It was silent for a moment as Erwin deciphered what I said and nodded in understanding. I noticed Levi and Mike raising a questioning eyebrow at my weird usage of words.

But still… the thousands of live that will die under my watch…

"Erwin. I demand two weeks of recuperation after this expedition, more time of recuperation if there are fatal injuries."

"I was just about to offer a month of recuperation," replied Erwin.

"Two weeks, no more, no less, together with a month worth of comfort chocolate."


	37. Armin Arlert

Chapter 36

**Armin Arlert**

Erwin had done the deed and informed the victims of the fall of Wall Maria of the decision of the Inner Walls. He dealt with all the complains and anguish of the people while I trained my body to the best there was.

Because I need to protect them as much as possible, as I will be the only one who actually knew how to fight in the group of innocent, defenseless people.

Erwin had ordered the whole Scouting Legion to help me train the civilians in the period of one week. They were taught on how to use their gears and swords, but Erwin and I know for sure that it will be near to useless. All those knowledge will disappear in the face of fear and Titans.

Even during this period, Amanda had never even disobeyed me once. She even informed the people of the use of my inventions. How to activate a Pac-man and how to shoot a Ditto canon, but the use of Jigsaws were not allowed by the Inner Walls for the sole reason of them being rare and expensive.

The whole week, the whole Scouting Legion's time was spent on training the civilians, in the hopes of increasing the survival rate. And during this time, I could feel that the people were slowly losing hope.

"Alright, people!" I shouted to gain the attention of the soldiers and civilians. Slowly, the training ground was filled with silent. "I thank you for all the hard work you have given today. Tomorrow, we will give our best! I'll be truthful and say that there is only a slim chance of surviving this, and I know that some of you are scared shitless! But please remember your children! I will not ask you to do it for the sake of humanity or shits like that. Heck, I don't even care of humanity! I ask you to do it for the sake of loved ones, understand?"

A small portion of the people gave a war cry, but a large portion kept silent and looked on the ground. Some even wept openly at their dismissal of life.

"You all are dismissed. Rest well. Say what you need to your families and return back here before dawn."

And all of them slowly dispersed, each dreading the sure 'March to Death' tomorrow.

**0o.o0o.o0**

Armin was thoroughly confused. And Armin being confused was an extremely rare occurrence. He and his grandpa were exceptionally close, maybe even closer than he was to Mikasa and Eren. When he return back from the labor that victims of the fall of Wall Maria needs to do, he will always be welcomed by his grandpa, but then, he rarely saw his grandpa on this week.

Sure, grandpa returned once the sun set, but where was he during the day? Armin should've at least seen a glimpse of him. Another weird thing was that he had not seen the other adults of the Fall of Wall Maria during the days. All of these adults, his grandpa included, returned at the same time, each day with additional bruise.

But when asked, his grandpa only chuckled weakly and ruffled his blond locks fondly.

Armin had suspected that maybe the Inner Walls were sending these adults to work somewhere else, but this does not explain about the bruises they get. Armin had also suspected another thing, though he truly wished that what he had in mind was not true.

He didn't want his grandpa to be sent to Wall Maria to fight the Titans.

He considered the live stocks and food present and knew that the victims of the fall of Wall Maria were consuming too much food and space. The easiest way for the Inner Wall to get rid of these victims without dirtying their own hands were to send them to Wall Maria to die a 'heroic' battle. If he considered the gloom of the adults and snippets of the adult's conversation, this might be very possible.

He just refused to believe it. After all, what are the chances that he was right?

"Grandpa!" Armin shouted in shock, as he did not expect the elder to return quicker than the days before, when his grandpa started to disappear. He was just returning to the refugee camp after today's share of work when he came across his grandpa. Eren had injured himself and Mikasa had dragged him off somewhere to attend his wounds.

"Armin?" the older man turned to face Armin. "Ohoho, such coincidence. Care to take a walk around with me?"

Even without grandpa offering, he would walk by his side to make up for the lost of time this week. They walked along the canals as they passed by the people and enjoy the evening breeze and the reddish sky. Armin had liked the peacefulness, until his grandpa dropped the bomb he truly feared.

"Armin," started his grandpa, "this might be the last time we are together."

"Grandpa?" Armin held his breath, hoping that the reason is anything other than the monstrosity in his mind.

"For the past week, the older victims of Wall Maria had been training to fight the Titans, and tomorrow, they were going to send us out. This might be our last meeting."

_Nononono_!

"B-but grandpa! They can't do that! You all will die! One week isn't enough time to train to fight! A-and-"

"Armin," his grandpa called. There was a moment of silence as Armin calmed down. "I'm sure you understand."

"I know," said Armin, "But it's unfair. I don't want you to die."

It was a really sad and childish excuse, and Armin knew it, but his heart skipped a beat when his grandpa suddenly laughed.

"Really Armin, you are clever and I'm proud of that, but you are still childish from time to time!"

"G-grandpa! I'm not childish! And I am not that clever!"

"Say all you want, Armin," his grandpa grinned as he ruffled Armin's hair. "Wait here for a moment, I'll go back and take something."

Armin nodded. His grandpa turned to walk where he knew the refugee's camp was, leaving Armin by the side of the canal.

"I can't help but overheard your… conversation."

Armin turned to face the source of the voice and saw a ponytailed brunette with goggles covering her eyes. He was rather shocked that a stranger would initiate a conversation with him, but he answered the stranger politely all the same.

"Ah- I'm sorry for the disturbance. I get too emotional earlier and raised my voic-"

"That's not what I meant," the stranger cut him in; "He is going to be sent to fight the Titans, isn't he? Your grandfather, I mean."

"Ah- y-yes."

"Is that so…"

The stranger sat by the side of the canal, and patted a spot nearby, as if inviting him to sit. Armin did so, still feeling a little suspicious of this stranger that appeared out of nowhere, but still trying to be polite. Both stared absentmindedly at the flowing water.

"You understand, right?" the stranger asked, "Why the Inner Walls sent all those victims away?"

"I do, just, hard to believe is all. It was because of the shortage of food and living space, right?"

"And you don't hate the Inner Walls for it?"

"I'm angry, but they justified their reasons. No matter how wrong it is, they did it for the rest of humanity."

The stranger hummed in though. "You really are one clever brat, aren't you?"

And the silence lapsed once more.

"Hey, hey." The stranger called to get his attention. "If you are leading tomorrow's expedition, what will you do?"

"I-I don't know?" Armin said, though it sounded too much like a question. He was flabbergasted by the sudden weird question, but his mind whirled for the answer he thinks is right. "I'll do my best, because there's no other way? I'll protect who I can protect. I'll think of ways to use trickery against Titans, because they are not trained enough for a direct face off. But I can't say I'm able to do it. I might freeze off in fear."

The brunette was silent as she considered the action and smiled. "You are younger, yet the mind is bright all the same. Asking you is a right thing, I guess."

Armin feels like the brunette was comparing him to someone, though he was not that sure.

There was a thick silence as the stranger stared once more into the canal. Armin took this time to observe the stranger, who oddly seems rather familiar to him. The stranger was wearing a yellow shirt and white tights with boots, nothing special to help him remember by. He tried to recall where he had seen that ponytail and goggles. That's when it hit him.

"You are one of the youngest Scouting Legion members!"

"Whoa, there! How did you even know!" Then said stranger looked down on her clothes, "I'm not even wearing my uniform jacket!"

"I-it- I just," Armin gulped nervously, obviously thinking that it was wrong of him to be knowing of the brunette soldier status, "I remembered you from around 2 years ago! You seemed so young and small compared to the other soldiers!"

_'And of course anyone will remember someone who wears goggles every time! With or without military jacket!' _was left unsaid.

"Hmmm?" the stranger blinked before she snapped her finger, "Oh yes! I saw you with a criminal looking brat! Where is he, anyway?"

_Criminal looking brat?_

Armin blinked.

Is that Eren's nickname?

"Eh, Eren is injured so he had someone to attend to him."

"Oh? Pity," she pouted, "I guess that's to be expected for a criminal looking brat…"

_Isn't that rather cruel? How could you just throw cruel random nicknames to people!_

Armin was pulled away from his disbelieve when an unfamiliar voice called out.

"Hange!" a blond mad strode to their direction, "I know you are worried for tomorrow, but you need to rest! I won't have one of my strongest soldiers die because they don't have enough energy!"

Armin's companion just scoffed. "I'm not that strong. And I promise I won't die. I still have many things that I know will be useful to you, anyways."

"Hange," now the blonde man said sternly, the way someone would scold a child, "go to your bed and sleep like log, the way you usually would before expedition."

Hange – now Armin know the name – wanted to protest, but was cut off by the blonde.

"This is an order as a commander, Hange."

"Oh, geez, fine. I'll go back to the HQ and sleep, just got to say goodbye to some brat."

At this, Hange's blonde friend looked pointedly at Armin's direction, and Armin suddenly felt nervous at the taller blonde's scrutiny. The taller man suddenly nodded.

"Alright, I'll leave you at that," he said as he left, "but if you didn't return, I'll send the whole Scouting Legion to chase you."

"You heard that, blondie," said the brunette once her companion left, "I'm going to say goodbye and leave you. So before that, mind telling me your name? My name's Hange Zoe."

Armin reasoned that it will be fine to give his name to this stranger as this person was with military. "A-armin Arlert."

"Armin Arlert?" Hange repeated as a smirk appeared, "Weird name."

Armin blushed.

"E-eh, are you a man or a woman?" Armin asked. This particular question has been disturbing him since the first time he met the brunette. Body wise, the brunette is slim like a woman, but the rest? Male's outgoing attitude and androgynous voice tells Armin otherwise.

The brunette looked at him with wide eyed shock, before smirking mischievously and patted Armin's hair.

"Why, I am a man of course. I just have a slim body is all, don't let it fool you."

Armin looked at the brunette suspiciously, not sure whether to trust on the brunette's words or not. In the end, after a fierce battle of trust inside his mind, he decided to believe that the brunette is indeed a 'he'.

"Kay then, I'm going," said the brunette. He walked down the street and left Armin to wait for his grandpa. By the time his grandpa returned, he held a hat in one hand. He placed said hat on Armin's head and take a hold on Armin's hand and walked back to the refugee's camp.

_"Take care of that hat," _his grandfather says_, "it belongs to your father and me."_


End file.
